Midtown Optometry’s San Lorenzo River Clean‑Up Day

In July 2025 our Midtown Optometry team took our passion for eye health outdoors. We gathered gloves and reusable buckets and headed down to the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz for a community clean‑up. The San Lorenzo may seem like a small creek when you cross it downtown, but this waterway is central to our city’s health. It is 29 miles long and drains a 137‑square‑mile watershed that includes Santa Cruz, Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton and Scotts Valley. Historically, its flow powered lime, leather and lumber industries and once supported prolific runs of steelhead trout and coho salmon.. Today more than 122 bird species forage and nest along the lower river, and nearly 100 000 residents rely on the San Lorenzo for most of their drinking water. During a symposium celebrating four decades of conservation, scientists described the river as “flowing directly through the heart of Santa Cruz” and noted that it is a vital water source for people, fish and numerous other animals and plants.

Why Clean Up the River?

We care deeply about our community and our planet. We donate 5% of profits annually to Rainforest Trust. Through our 5% for the planet commitment, we support the protection of threatened habitats and wildlife and the leadership of local conservation communities. Volunteering to clean local beaches and rivers is another way we care for the environment.

This isn’t our first clean‑up. Our office has also closed for a morning so the entire staff could pick up trash at Twin Lakes Beach, Boardwalk Beach, as well as other trips to the San Lorenzo River. At our first beach clean up at Twin Lakes, we spent the day gathering litter, from cigarette butts and napkins to bottles and cans, and hauled 37 pounds of debris off the sand. We left energized to do more.

The San Lorenzo

The river was tranquil, but the amount of trash lodged along its banks surprised us. In just a few hours we collected 22 pounds of waste, including bottle caps, fast‑food wrappers, micro‑plastics, fishing line and even an old car tire. Every piece removed made a difference.

We finished the morning by properly sorting recyclables and trash and enjoyed coffee together while watching the river flow past. The feeling of camaraderie was palpable; volunteering together helps the environment and strengthens our team.

About Midtown Optometry

For those who don’t know us, Midtown Optometry is a trusted eye‑care practice located at 550 Water Street in Santa Cruz. Our optometrists—Dr. Fellers, Dr. Burns and Dr. Ruegg—trained at UC Berkeley and specialize in computer vision, ocular health, pediatric eye care and myopia management.

Looking Ahead

Our San Lorenzo clean‑up day reminded us how intertwined our community is with the natural world. The river has come a long way since the 1970s, when sedimentation, pollution and urban runoff degraded its habitat. Thanks to decades of conservation and public outreach, sedimentation has been reduced by 70 percent.