Patty Donald: Coastal Cleanup Day Champion, Educator and Organizer, and all around Magical Human
Patty Donald runs the Berkeley Marina Experience Programs at the Shorebird Park Nature Center in Berkeley. The number of programs offered is mind-boggling; monthly shoreline cleanups, frequent field trips for classes, hands-on summer programs for students, docent programs, the Adventure Playground, teacher trainings, aquarium exhibits, a microscope lab, boat trips, and the annual Shoreline Cleanup Day. Patty holds the record as the Coastal Commission’s local coordinator with the longest tenure in Coastal Cleanup Day, having joined the City of Berkeley to the statewide effort in 1988.
Patty has dedicated her life to being a force for positive change – in how we relate to the environment as individuals, and how we view our ability to affect change in the world ourselves. With deep roots in the east bay (her ancestral home in Oakland is a historic landmark and museum, built in 1884, and her great, great, great-grandfather was chief attorney for railroad titans Huntington, Stanford, Crocker, and Hopkins), she is a pragmatic visionary, taking the long view of our time here on the earth.
She will retire from the City of Berkeley in 2017 and Coastal Cleanup Day 2016 was her last as the Berkeley Shoreline Cleanup coordinator and from overseeing the efforts with the city of Albany and Emeryville . So, it was high time we caught up with Patty, to hear about her experience and pass on her words of wisdom.
Everything we do here has the same message – isn’t nature cool?! Isn’t it scary what’s happening to something so cool?! And here’s what you can do.
“...they can help the earth and that it’s really very easy.”
Growing up in the 1960’s, I was an avid reader of National Geographic. I read about how the oceans are being polluted and the message I got is that there’s nothing we can do about it and we’re just killing the earth. I felt so bad about it – really disheartened and powerless. I got into this field to empower kids and give people an understanding that they can make a choice on what to do with their stuff. That they can help the earth and that it’s really very easy. I tell the kids to pick up 10 pieces of trash everyday – that’s going to help the earth. And they get really excited and go “Yeah!!!!” You’ve got to start with that. Then the kids aren’t feeling that disheartening feeling. They realize they can do something about it – they have choices. And that’s really inspiring for me!
Berkeley Shoreline Cleanup (Part of California Coastal Cleanup Day and International Coastal Cleanup)
Years ago, a teacher from Athenian School called me up and said he wanted to bring his class and do a shoreline clean-up on the Berkeley waterfront, could I help? And I said – O.K., tell me more…
So we took a group of kids to Strawberry Cove and the rest is history. The event just grew and grew. In the early days there were pockets of big, heavy trash. For example, one year we found a bunch of parking meters – someone had cut them off, taken the coins, and dumped them on the shoreline. Now the trash is smaller and smaller. Recycling has gotten better – it’s harder to find recyclable items. But there is no end of small plastic bits to pick up. People’s enthusiasm for coming out to do cleanups keeps growing. Now we have Plastic Free July cleanup, the Berkeley Bay Festival, and people demand an Earth Day cleanup. We hold monthly cleanups but could easily do them weekly or more if we had the resources.
“It [cleaning up] just needs to happen more often – like every time the tide comes in.”
The cleanups are empowering. When you look out at a trashed shoreline and you see how awful it looks. And then in 3 hours it’s clean - People are amazing! It’s not really all that much effort, but the difference is like night and day. It just needs to happen more often – like every time the tide comes in. Since plastic is made to last forever, we are going to be seeing it for much longer than we all want.
“[People] tend to think disposables are a good thing because they make their life easier…but it doesn’t make the world easier.”
My favorite part of the cleanup is when I’m doing the orientation talk and I find that magic word that delivers the best message or strikes a chord with someone and you can just see them go “Ohh!” and they get it. They’ve just come down to the shoreline to pick up trash – what’s the big deal? And they realize that the issue is on their street and it’s with their neighbors. It’s a changeable thing. The whole idea of going to a park for a picnic and ending up with huge amounts of plastic trash. What did they do in the olden days? They brought their dishes home and there was nothing left afterwards. People are into the disposable society. They tend to think disposables are a good thing because they make their life easier…but it doesn’t make the world easier.
Another highlight is when the kids that participate really get it and call me up later because they’re doing a paper on marine debris and they want to come interview me and continue to share the story– they are bringing it forward.
What advice would I give someone going into this field? To do this work you need a sense of wonder. That you don’t ever stop learning and improving. That keeps everything fresh. Also the importance of understanding one’s audience and how to communicate well, so you can find those magic words.
“You need a sense of wonder” and to “Find the magic words.”
Copying is good. If you see a good program somewhere, with magic words, see what you can take from it.
Stay young. If you start looking at all the negative things, it will dig you into a hole. So you need to find the positive in every situation. That way you’re looking forward to finding more positives.
You can’t do anything in a bubble. Working with different people and organizations like the Coastal Commission, teachers, and docents – everybody sharing and adding what’s important to them to the pot, makes it richer. It’s SO positive. And they all want to empower kids and make the world a better place. If I can be a catalyst or help provide a location for that to happen – that’s great!
