Anyone arriving in the City of San Luis Obispo via Highway 1 will now see a new sign recognizing SLO as a “Clean California Community.”
The sign was recently installed on the corner of Santa Rosa Street (Highway 1) and Highland Drive, next to the large City monument sign. City officials, staff and partners with ECOSLO, Cal Trans, SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority and Cal Poly also gathered to celebrate the Clean California Community designation with a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The City earned this designation last year in partnership with ECOSLO. The two organizations work together with community members to reduce litter, improve public spaces and foster community pride. Through its Sustainable SLO initiative, the City works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and litter that ends up in our shared spaces, creeks and watersheds each year.
The Clean California Community designation is a statewide selection to reward communities in their hard work in creating a “clean and beautiful” environment. San Luis Obispo has been recognized as a Clean California Community based on our exemplary work in litter removal, beautification, tree planting and volunteer opportunities. With the designation, the City received the “Clean California Community” sign and will also receive educational resources and automatic membership with Keep California Beautiful.
To earn the Clean California designation, the City partnered with ECOSLO to demonstrate that together we are meeting at least 10 of 15 criteria to clean up and beautify San Luis Obispo. This includes:
- signing the pledge
- creating an advisory body
- receiving community input
- hosting cleanups in the community
- conducting litter assessments
- using anti-litter infrastructure
- measuring progress
- educating the community
- hosting collection drives for bulky items and e-waste
- enforcing anti-litter policy and management
- long-term planning to reduce litter
- placing cigarette waste receptacles in the city, and
- creating and maintaining programs that beautify and keep the community green.