Coastal cleanup is 82-year-old Berkeley woman's ongoing mission
BERKELEY – California's Coastal Commission is holding its 38th annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday. For a senior citizen in Berkeley, beach cleanups are a weekly habit.
Elsa Tranter has lived in the Berkeley hills with her husband for nearly 50 years.
A few years ago, she was looking to do something new and meaningful. On social media, she learned about a grandmother in England who cleaned her local beach for a year.
"And I thought, 'Oh, that's an interesting thing. I love to pick up trash. Maybe I could pick up trash for a year,'" Tranter recalled.
She began weekly treks to the beach, cleaning up at the Berkeley Marina and other Bay Area beaches as well, for two hours at a time.
The retired Cal Berkeley graduate assistant found it fulfilling.
"A year went by then I thought, 'Well, this is still fun.' So I've been doing it four and a half years now," Tranter told KPIX 5.
The 82-year-old says the habit has opened her eyes.
"I was surprised that once I started picking things up, I noticed more things there were to pick up. Like every time you bend over, you see a straw, and you bend over to pick up a straw, and then you see five other little pieces of plastic," she observed. "It's discouraging to think that so many people are so careless with the trash that they drop as they're walking along."
People want to join her, and maybe start a volunteer group.
Sometimes, Tranter brings a friend or a grandchild of hers, but mostly she chooses a solo mission.
"When I am by myself, I'm much more aware of my environment around. I listen to the sound of the water and the sound of the birds," she smiled. "It's very soothing."
On this day, she's found several items, including a hard hat and a shoe in only 15 minutes.
Most days, she hauls out a grocery bag full of recyclables and some treasures in the trash, from sand dollars to heart-shaped rocks to mystery skeletons.
Even a gift or two.
"I have a friend who had a new grandchild and I found a cute squeeze plastic giraffe. The little baby loved giraffes, so it was her favorite thing for a while," Tranter said.
The weekly beach cleanups have become one of her favorite things. She can exercise and care for her environment.
"Doing a little bit is not going to make all the difference in the world but it gives you pleasure that you're doing something. You're not doing nothing."
And for Elsa Tranter, that means everything.
