SANTA CRUZ, Calif. <\/p>\n
Needles turn up in all kinds of public places, especially on beaches. <\/p>\n
However, there are volunteers dedicated to keeping Santa Cruz beaches as needle free as possible. <\/p>\n
\"We're not doing it for money. We're not doing it for fame! We're doing it because we're afraid someone on two legs or four legs is going to get stuck with a needle,\" said Santa Cruz resident Rachel Dean. <\/p>\n
Three times a week, Dean walks three quarters of a miles across Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, scouring the sand for needles. <\/p>\n
She said she believes that the needles wash up along the shoreline through the San Lorenzo River or have just been discarded there. <\/p>\n
She's gathered quite a collection since she began collecting needles in January. <\/p>\n
\"Ground zero. This is where I would start really looking around for orange and white,\" Dean said. \"Orange being, orange caps. White pushing on a syringe and I do this back and forth.\" <\/p>\n
She targets not only needles, but also trash. <\/p>\n
Dean isn't alone in her efforts to keep Santa Cruz beaches needle-free. <\/p>\n
Grassroots community organization Take Back Santa Cruz has one of the lengthiest sets of records tracking needle incidents in Santa Cruz. The organization's records go back four and a half years, containing over 1,635 reports of needle incidents. <\/p>\n
The group also recorded that 14,620 needles have been removed from public spaces in Santa Cruz over the past four and a half years. <\/p>\n
\"We are doing this because we care about our community. We want to focus (on what) we can do to stop it from happening,\" said Analicia Cube, a member of Take Back Santa Cruz. <\/p>\n
Today, Dean recovered one needle and a few caps at Seabright Beach. <\/p>\n
\"One needle off the beach is productive. It's one less stick,\" Dean said. <\/p>\n
She takes what she's collected to her \"beach mobile\" and places the needles in an industrial size sharp container. <\/p>\n
When the container fills up, she'll take it to a hospital for disposal. <\/p>\n
Until then, Rachel Dean will continue to walk the walk in her effort to keep the beach free of needles. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Originally posted here:<\/p>\n
Rachel Dean walks the walk to keep Santa Cruz beaches free of needles - KSBW The Central Coast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SANTA CRUZ, Calif. Needles turn up in all kinds of public places, especially on beaches Continue reading