Isla Vista Post-Move Out Street Cleanup

Couches, tables, bunk beds, mini fridges, desks, and TV’s…these are are just some of the items you’ll find along Isla Vista streets that UCSB students leave behind as they head back home for the summer. But who exactly cleans up all that junk left behind?

Adopt-A-Block, a program founded by the Goleta West Sanitary District fifteen years ago, uses volunteers from all around the community to help collect unwanted items, which will then be sorted out into piles of useable items, and trash that MarBorg Industries disposes of . “The useable items, the things that are in good shape, that we think other people might like, we take them to Embarcadero Hall…and they’re sold at really good prices for people in the community,” says Katie Boettcher, Adopt-A-Block Supervisor. “It’s all about community involvement. It really is every single person doing their part to keep the community clean," Boettcher adds.

Ryan Andrews, a Goleta resident and volunteer, says that this is not the first time he has volunteered to help in the Isla Vista cleanup, and he is more than happy to donate his time to such a worthy cause, “The city gets pretty trashed around here, so if you’re looking for some community service to do, this isn’t a bad option.”

At Embarcadero Hall, volunteers there are gearing up for the annual GIVE Sale taking place next week, which sells the useable items collected by Adopt-A-Block. The GIVE sale is so popular that it attracts thousands of people from all over the Central and South Coast every year. “I have to tell them to scoot back because we get so many people. It’s amazing, but they come out in flocks,” says Rogelio Reyes, GIVE Coordinator. The GIVE sale generated $27,000 last year, and “the funds of that sale actually go to local community organizations to help the organizations here that do good things in the community,” adds Boettcher.

The GIVE Sale will be held this year on Saturday June 18 and Sunday June 19 from 8AM to 5PM at Embarcadero Hall in Isla Vista. Donations are welcomed, and can be used as a tax write off.