Written by DaniRose Hill
Photos by Elizabeth Wilder
This past Friday, April 21, Emerald Keepers, a Coronado-based environmental nonprofit organization, partnered with the Coronado Public Library and Coronado High School art students to host their second annual Earth Day Chalk Walk. This year’s theme was “Keep Our Seas Plastic Free,” which was evident in the chalk murals picturing subjects such as neon jellyfish, a mermaid, dolphins, and a manatee swimming alongside an oil drum. Hosted in the walkways surrounding the Coronado Public Library, event goers were free to wander between live art demonstrations, a film screening of The Story of Plastic, and booths hosted by a suite of local environmental and organizations.
While the collaboration between Emerald Keepers volunteers and local artists may seem strange to some, it makes perfect sense to CHS art teacher, Laura Hill. She said, “For as long as art has existed, artists have taken inspiration from their natural environment: Monet’s Water Lilies, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, the list goes on. It makes sense that we would take efforts to protect this precious source of creativity.” When Hill approached her students with the conservationist theme, she said they immediately latched onto the idea, and quickly developed all sorts of ideas for their chalk murals. “Collaborating with Emerald Keepers really created this feeling of purpose behind the event. The kids were so intentional, I think they felt like they had a chance to truly make an impact on people with their art.”
While Laura Hill has long held chalk walks at Coronado High School, it was Amy Steward, President of Emerald Keepers, that approached her with the idea of using the event to serve a larger purpose. Amy explained, “The chalk art that students produced was always so inspiring and attracted thousands of onlookers. I couldn’t help but wonder what could happen if we combined their talent with our cause.”
As demonstrated by the thousands of attendees, Steward’s hunch about the collaboration with CHS art classes was right. The day-long event produced vibrant works of art and stirred hundreds of conversations about our local approach to the ocean, environment, and of course, single-use plastics. 
Between the powerful murals, the recycled plastic crafting station hosted by the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission, messages from Oceana, the City of Coronado, the Library, and Emerald Keepers, it was impossible for Coronado residents to leave the event without pondering the role of single-use plastic in our lives, and its devastating impact to the environment – especially our ocean.
By the end of the year, Emerald Keepers hopes to see Coronado ban single-use plastics on the island to include: plastic beverage bottles, polystyrene, single-use plastics, plastic utensils, carryout plastic bags, and balloons.
Coronado is the only beach community between Imperial Beach and Oceanside without a plastics ban. “While we may be the last community to ban plastics,” according to Amy, “we have learned from the other cities and aim to have the best ban in San Diego County.”
While the organization has a long way to go before presenting their proposed ordinances to the City, the Earth Day Chalk Walk marked a successful start in their campaign to raise public awareness.
