Muristek
SANTA BARBARA — Heal The Ocean is urging Fiesta residents and visitors to be “extra confetti conscious” this year to prevent any litter from entering storm drains and ending up in the ocean.
“Fiesta is around the corner, which means we all need to be extra confetti conscious to ensure our streets, sidewalks, parks, creeks and ocean remain clean and safe from litter!” Hillary Hauser, HTO executive director, wrote in the group’s newsletter.
“Plastic, mylar, glitter and sequin confetti does not biodegrade,” she said. “Instead, it goes down the storm drain and into the ocean where wildlife mistakes it for food.”
A few Fiestas ago, HTO was approached by the city about covering storm drains to prevent confetti from getting into them, and consequently the ocean, she said. “Together we created a map of storm drains to cover before festivities start.”
This year, HTO Operations Manager Jasmin Tupy and HTO Operations Intern Sydni Trigueiro worked with the city on an updated map because the parade has been moved to Cabrillo Boulevard, between Castillo Street and the Chromatic Gate near the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort, Ms. Hauser said, adding “State Street is expected to get its usual share of confetti, too.”
Additionally, Heal the Ocean is providing the services of Andrew Velikanje and his Earthcomb crew to work on keeping the streets clean during Fiesta.
“All of us can help in this effort to keep our streets and gutters clean,” Ms. Hauser said.
— Neil Hartstein
The post Heal the Ocean urges caution against littering appeared first on Santa Barbara News-Press.