LUSH Volunteers Remove Microtrash from Sespe Tributary

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On Thursday, February 4th, 28 [great smelling] volunteers from LUSH Cosmetics joined the staff of Los Padres ForestWatch in Burro Creek, a tributary to the Wild and Scenic Sespe Creek, adjacent to the Sespe Wilderness, less that 15 miles from the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, and the site of a decimated target shooting area.SummerTruschke2016_Lush6

Volunteers quickly set to work cleaning up the site, spreading out to find glass, bullet casings, plastic, and clay shards scattered throughout the floodplain.
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Meanwhile, a small team of ambitious volunteers headed upstream to tackle a massive tamarisk plant. The photo here is what was left of the plant, the rest of the plant is that massive wood pile in the background to the left.

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The cleanup went on for three hours until sunset, where despite the volunteers’ radiant skin, the light was fading and it was time to call it a day. In just three hours, the volunteers were able to remove more than 1,000 pounds of microtrash from this critical watershed. It was no small feat, and left a sizable dent in the microtrash at the area.

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A huge thank you to LUSH for all of the support – both financial and in the forest. We had a ton of fun working with you on this project, and we look forward to working with you again this March.

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For more information about LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, be sure to visit their site over at lushusa.com.

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All photos courtesy of Summer Truschke.

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