Christ Brokate, Founder of Clean River Alliance
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Our speaker for Thursday December 6th was Chris Brokate, Executive Director and founder of the Clean River Alliance. Chris is passionate about getting trash out of the Russian River. I was struck by Chris’ basic approach to environmental remediation: Simple, ordinary trash is a huge environmental problem. Chris’ solution: Get people to understand the problem, stage their trash and pick it up! That simple formula is resulting in very significant improvement of the Russian River and the Pacific Ocean.
Chris and his team of volunteers speak to folks in homeless camps in the region, let them know of the adverse effects of trash and give them trash bags. Chris picks up the filled trash bags on Thursdays alongside the road. Now, homeless encampments are cleaner and the trash doesn’t go into the river! Chris’s group picks up almost 1,000 pounds of trash every Thursday!
Chris is taking his passion to other areas as well. He’s consulting with Orange County and was the keynote speaker in a presentation aimed at cleaning up the Santa Ana River. He’s consulted with the Water Quality Control Board and the Coastal Commission and is active in online efforts to develop river and beach clean ups around the globe. The goal is “zero water waste.” He is also advocating for Highway 101 “Adopt a highway” programs, since the County has stopped doing it. Great job Chris and thank you for your dedication!
