they themselves Tarkits Creek Yacht Clubbut they are actually Mother Nature’s messy little cleanup crew. An ironic name for a dedicated group of volunteers who meet once.
Dry Bed Creek is a popular destination for urban runners, passing through multi-million dollar mid-century modern homes and new condos. But if you spend some time there and look around, you’ll find debris, bottles, food containers, sleeping bags, lawn chairs, hats, jackets, rubber tires, plastic coffee cups and thousands of cigarette butts. I can’t help but notice that. Littering in creeks and running paths.
Vaughan Davis When John Martin I lead a loyal group of 10-20 volunteers on the third Saturday of each month, regardless of the heat index. They will provide trash bags, pickers, gloves, water, and instructions on how to safely remove trash from Tarkits Creek Channel, a mile-long urban creek between Sunrise and South Palm Canyon. The City of Palm Springs is emptying out the area’s trash cans, but no city employee descends to the bottom of the creek like these environmentalists to remove the filth that harms wildlife and ends up in the water supply.
Much of the debris is left by homeless people sleeping, gathering or living under nearby bridges. Much of it also comes from fast food outlets in the South Palm He Canyon near Sunny Dunes. And a lot of it comes from careless visitors who use the sidewalks of streams who don’t want to walk a few steps to use a trash can.
Picking up a big pink propane bottle from the creek bed, Kent Phillips said she joined for the first time this month because she had just moved into a brand new townhouse in Cody Place and was interested in both the environment and the investment. He is a part-time resident of Washington, DC, working for an environmental advocacy group. He wants to encourage other Cody Place residents to spend a few hours improving their community.
Jeff Foster and his husband own a mid-century modern home on North Riverside Avenue. On a recent Saturday morning pick-up day, he wore an industrial knee pad to pick up non-biodegradable cigarette butts and a few used condoms from under a nearby tree.
Graham Davis I combed the running path and stuffed more butts, candy wrappers and bottle caps into several large black garbage bags.
Although there was a brief hiatus during the pandemic, loyal volunteers Patsy Evans Keep the mission alive by hiking to the creek bed and clearing debris on the third Saturday of each month. She found a sense of community and purpose in this monthly mission.
“It’s more rewarding to go out and do something good for the planet than just appreciate the rich beauty of nature,” she says.
The next cleanup will be on November 19th at 8am. If you would like to support this non-profit effort financially, you can send a donation to your PayPal account at tahquitzcreekyachtclub@gmail.com.
Lorenzo Taylor is a retired public health administrator, poetry and fiction writer who moved to the Coachella Valley three years ago. He volunteers in various LGBT community programs.
