by Sebastian on April 22, 2024 (BeyondChron.org)
Van Ness Avenue Between Eddy And Ellis Streets.
Earth Day is the time to reflect on the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability and encourage us to come together and take action as a community for a healthier planet and a brighter future.
Walking around Cathedral Hill on Earth Day made me feel sad and wonder what we have done to our beautiful Earth.
Burger King On Van Ness Avenue
I saw a group of people using drugs in front of Burger King with broken glass windows and graffiti. The smell of urine and feces on the sidewalk in front of Burger King overpowered the delicious aroma of the Whopper and fries from the restaurant.
The Burger King’s dining room is still closed to the public as drug addicts use it as a drug den. The restaurant’s broken glass windows also make the dining room unsafe for everybody to be in.A block up from Burger King, on Van Ness Avenue and Ellis Street, a group of guys participated in a fentanyl circle.
Van Ness Avenue and Ellis Street
On Ellis Street and Van Ness Avenue, the Land Rover dealership’s plants have been all ripped up from the planters with trash in and around them.
The Land Rover Dealership On Van Ness Avenue and Ellis Street
The neighbors and the planter owners tell me that drug dealers and addicts leave piles of trash every day that they and the Department of Public Works just can’t keep up with picking up their neighborhood’s trash. They tell me they are tired of cleaning up graffiti and trash and replacing vandalized plants in their planters. “It just won’t stop,” they say.
On Olive Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a few guys were doing drugs on the street and the sidewalk.
Olive Street Between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street
Syringes are commonly found in planters in Cathedral Hill.
Syringes Found In Planters In Cathedral Hill
Is this how we celebrate Earth Day?
As a community, we should be planting plants and cleaning up graffiti and trash on Earth Day. To leave the world better than we found it, sometimes we have to pick up other people’s trash. When we display pride in our community, it causes people to feel that they want to be part of it.
Habitat For Humanity For San Francisco’s Residents First
Should we allow our children to have pets if we know that they can’t even keep their rooms tidy and clean? Walking around Cathedral Hill on Earth Day got me thinking if it was the right decision to get pandas for San Francisco when we can’t even provide ourselves as a society with a clean, safe, and vibrant habitat to live in.
Beautifying San Francisco With Live Plants In Sidewalk Planters
Like it or not, sidewalk planters are all over the City nowadays. Consistently maintained planters could be an asset to beautify our City. They could be beautiful with hanging ivy flowering vines if they got a chance to grow. There is something about plants that draws people together and makes them happy.
Plants also have the power to soften and civilize public urban spaces, even in dangerous areas. It is an enigma but as a plant aficionado, I can say that I have bonded with people from all walks of life through my passion for gardening.
I reached out to Friends of the Urban Forest last week, whose commitment is to revitalizing San Francisco’s urban forest, building community, and taking a local leadership role in mitigating global environmental problems through the simple act of planting and caring for trees and sidewalk gardens, to help and work with SF’s Urban Garden District planter owners.
But I haven’t heard back from them.
I also reached out to the “Guerilla Gardening” couple, Shalaco and Phoenix McGee from SFinBloom last week to spread their “mantra, “California wildflower seeds in the empty planters and the neglected spaces in SF’s Urban Garden District.
But, I also haven’t heard back from them.
Making our City more beautiful with plants will bring environmental, social, and economic benefits. Plants give pleasure to people who crave a connection with nature in their lives and help local businesses attract customers by making their neighborhoods visually appealing.
The Earth is what we all have in common.
The Earth is our beautiful home, please take care of it!
