Less Litter
Chris Carew, raised in Florida, recently moved to Santa Monica from NYC. The full story involves a Covid-inspired RV trip around the country with his wife, Jinyen, who I know from her fearless jump into PTA volunteering. They have two daughters, one in Lincoln, the other at SAMO. Chris has done a lot in the business arena, mainly involving un- or under-utilized spaces—literally filling gaps in physical and metaphysical landscapes, even those as dense as Manhattan—and has ideas for even more (watch this space). It seems to me that both he and his wife have a way of seeing and doing that’s informed by their new to Santa Monica perspective and activated by an impulse best described as enterprising.
Chris founded the Less Litter Foundation to do the kind of simple, low threshold thing that’s often ignored and/or seen as overwhelming: cleaning up our environment in the most literal sense, starting at the littoral zone. Less Litter intentionally began with beach cleanup because of its low entry point. “Worst case you’re moving around outside, looking at the ocean,” Chris said.
On November 17th, 2024, a group of us, several from Bahala, spent an hour or two picking up wrappers, cans, bottles, and various sundries. By transferring non-treasure from sand to paper bags, we essentially transformed litter—small, widespread pieces of rubbish left on the ground in public places—to trash/garbage collected in a bag for disposal, boundaried and tangible, and therefore satisfying.
What happens to our garbage afterwards is a bit opaque, a subject for a future Bahala blog.
In prepping for this interview, I’d originally looked up Litter Less, which exists as nonprofits and stores selling canvas bags, etc. Chris reminded me that flipping the words means something different. Theirs is a preventative directive; his is grounded in the reality of what is. While generating less litter overall is essential, Less Litter is focused on smaller, quickly achievable goals: what’s here is already here; we see it, so let’s pick it up. I can wring my hands about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or spend 90 minutes picking up litter with my gloved hands at a beach I love and “five minutes later there’s less litter.”
Because Less Litter’s mission is “simple, abstract, and broad,” efforts can expand wherever needed. “Parks and organizations like Heal the Bay and Surfrider are focused on one jurisdiction,” he explains. “They’re doing great work and I’m especially inspired by the trash interceptor in Marina Del Ray. “I structured Less Litter for more general and therefore local, national, and international growth. “By Spring, I’d like not to be doing cleanups by myself. If all the various groups who care in Santa Monica sign up for one day a year, we’d have a huge impact,” he said. “A day for each school, each PTA, the Ed Foundation, every club and sports team, theatre, band, orchestra.” He continues: “By this time next year, I see partnering with international organizations for street/beach cleanups across the world.” Less Litter plans to start local street cleanups this year.
Technology can help to identify areas of greatest need (“hotspots”) and we all love a satisfying before/after time-lapse video. Less Litter can help individuals or other organizations collect volunteers: “They can use our name and our videos can provide templates for cleanups in your area. If you’re doing it regularly, say once a month, no matter where in the world you are, we can send out kits with gloves, pickers, bags, and vests.”
Chris finds volunteers through Eventbrite (better for beach cleanups and Google searches, since Eventbrite will syndicate it out to other little websites), Meetup (though you pay as organizer), and Luma (“after five RSVPs, your event will be featured so other people outside your network can see it, Facebook-esque”). Local green websites like Hey Climate are great, and reached a new Venice resident I chatted with while we picked up litter. “The key is listing the event far enough ahead of time.”
Along with quarterly Bahala partner cleanups, which included a park cleanup last Sunday, Chris is reaching out to partner with other like-minded organizations and corporations such as Patagonia, Terracycle, and the sustainability arms of fashion, Meta, Google, and Hollywood. Many hands doing a little bit.
“The beach is why our family visited Santa Monica on our van extravaganza,” Chris said when we spoke, “and was a big motivating factor in our deciding to relocate here, as it is for most people. Highway underpasses collect litter, too, but beautifying beaches we love is a no-brainer.”