The Creation of Sierra Trash Eliminators
by Erica Johnson
I live in June Lake and this summer our little town was repeatedly getting trashed. I was seeing trash everywhere, including Mammoth where I work at a salon that had to shut down due to Covid.
One day I went to check out a lookout point behind the June Lake Fire station because my roommate said it was beautiful... well, to my surprise, when I climbed up the trail I saw graffiti everywhere and that enraged me. I posted this on Scenic 395 Facebook group page which shares a lot of beautiful pictures of 395 and has thousands of followers. I wanted to show the reality that the Eastern Sierra was being trashed and graffitied. It got hundreds of comments and shares until the admin took down the post and kicked me off the group page as it was against the “rules'' of the group. They only show the pretty things 395 has to offer. That got under my skin so I thought, well, let me try making a post on Mammoth/Bishop Buy Sell & Trade FaceBook page to show people we have a massive problem on our hands and it needs to be addressed now! Again, it got lots of attention and was shared dozens of times and the community was outraged. I decided to share another post for a volunteer clean up event which ended up getting canceled due to Covid restrictions since over twenty were planning to join. Larry Palm from Mammoth Lakes, Bree Rose from June Lake and I decided to try to remove the graffiti ourselves as best we could.
I posted another clean up event on Facebook for June Lake Beach and started an events page. I changed the group name from “June Lake Graffiti Clean Up” to “Sierra Trash Eliminators”. About 10 people showed up including Matt McClain, the Director of Mammoth lakes Recreation (MLR) Organization (since retired), to take a picture of Larry, Bree and myself and our efforts that day. He later asked if I would like to partner up with MLR and I said yes. I was excited and asked around for someone to help me design a logo. I scribbled my idea on a napkin, and got it done for a bottle of wine and a small fee.
The group was expanding and I created lots of “pop up” events where a limited number of people would show up where needed. June Lake Chamber Board offered money to help with supplies like water bottles, bags, and the first round of 50 STE hats to give to volunteers for their efforts. MLR bought grabbers, gloves and CalTrans provided bags for clean up events. I grew the FB page by sharing lots of pictures and encouraging others to do the same. I would comment on everyone’s share and keep firing them up and giving them praise for their hard work.
I was originally going to keep the group page just for Mono County but it expanded quickly and we have some serious volunteers in Bishop Inyo County. I asked Jim Ellis to help me organize events and be my ‘go to’ man for Inyo County since I can’t be everywhere. There are so many volunteers in Bishop, it is truly incredible what they have done.
I am pretty exhausted now that winter is here... this has been a full time job this past summer and fall ..but I am very grateful for everyone that helped me expand the page and keep it going! It basically runs itself now and I believe it has brought people together in such dark times where we have been socially deprived due to Covid. Being outdoors is essential for our well being. I struggle with depression and this focus to make a positive change has helped me tremendously.
Erica Johnsen
STE Founder
Since its inception, Sierra Trash Eliminators has gained 1,185 members. Volunteers are encouraged to do their own mini cleanups wherever needed and to post pics on the STE Facebook site. To date, members have logged 1,365 photos depicting the need for, and the result of, their efforts - and they have a theme song! (see the link on their FB page, it’s a hoot!).
Janet Barth
Range of Light Group