Environmental Poster Contest Winner Announced

Brayden Willick, 12, from Branciforte Middle School, was the winner of this year’s Keep Santa Cruz Clean! poster contest, announced The City of Santa Cruz. This annual event encourages students to creatively express the importance of recycling and litter prevention.

Brayden’s winning poster, which celebrates the three Rs of waste reduction—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—features a colorful hand-drawn dolphin and will be displayed on the sides of City recycling and refuse trucks throughout the next year.

In an exciting addition, the City animated Brayden’s winning poster into a short video public service announcement to further spread the message about reducing waste and preventing litter. This video PSA helps celebrate Plastic Free July and will be shared across various platforms to engage the community in waste reduction and litter prevention efforts year-round.

“We’re incredibly proud of Brayden’s inspiring artwork and the message it sends about the importance of waste reduction and litter prevention,” said Nathan Nguyen, Director of the City’s Public Works Department. “This contest highlights our young artists’ talents and reinforces our community’s commitment to a cleaner environment.”

The contest was promoted to local schools in April 2024, with submissions due on May 17, 2024, before school was let out for the summer.

CDPH Warns Consumers Not to Eat Sport-Harvested Bivalve Shellfish
The California Department of Public Health is warning consumers not to eat recreationally harvested mussels, clams or whole scallops gathered from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins have been detected.

The naturally occurring PSP toxins can cause illness or death in humans. Cooking does not destroy the toxin.

This shellfish safety notification is in addition to the annual mussel quarantine. The annual quarantine applies to all species of mussels harvested for human consumption along the California coast, as well as all bays and estuaries, and will continue through at least Oct. 31.

This warning does not apply to commercially sold clams, mussels, scallops or oysters from approved sources. State law permits only state-certified commercial shellfish harvesters or dealers to sell these products. Shellfish sold by certified harvesters and dealers are subject to frequent mandatory testing to monitor for toxins.

PSP toxins affect the central nervous system, producing a tingling around the mouth and fingertips within a few minutes to a few hours after eating toxic shellfish. These symptoms are typically followed by loss of balance, lack of muscular coordination, slurred speech, and difficulty swallowing.