Amy Steward didn’t stop teaching when she left the classroom.
The former Coronado educator founded Emerald Keepers in 2019, a local environmental non-profit organization, to teach the community about climate action to help future generations.
“That’s what Emerald Keepers is about, leaving the world a better place.”
-Amy Steward, founder of Emerald Keepers.
“The one thing I’ve learned through travel and being with people from different cultures is that everybody wants strong families, beautiful environments, to be able to feed their families, and leave the world a better place,” said Steward. “That’s what Emerald Keepers is about, leaving the world a better place.”
Following the organization’s second annual 2023 Emerald Keepers Coronado Community Conference, Steward says she looks forward to building on past, current and future efforts.
“We’re not criticizing anyone who’s not doing this, but I do believe that we can do better,” said Steward.
While she considers that both conferences brought all sectors of the community including faith-based groups and small business owners together to discuss sustainability, Steward says there’s more to be done to impact people across the city.
One hope for Steward is to host an Environmental Fair in the future.
“A really big dream of mine is to bring in all the different organizations and give kids a little booklet that they can go around and get stamps in while learning different things from each station, and then have games and different vendors,” said Steward.
Background in education continues
Steward, a former University of Oregon rower and Old Dominion University graduate, studied ecology and worked as a park ranger sharing outdoor education.
She then moved on to receive her teaching credential at San Diego State University and an administrative credential from Point Loma Nazarene University.
“I really enjoyed working with students in the classroom,” said Steward, who taught Coronado Unified elementary and middle school students and made significant contributions by integrating different programs.
Current Emerald Keepers Secretary Sharon Raffer said Steward, who she met seven years ago, is highly respected in the Coronado community as an inspiring educator.
“I met Amy at a few events and when she started Emerald Keepers I was excited to join and see how I could get involved with an organization focused on ways people can learn about and celebrate more sustainable practices for a healthy environment that future generations can also enjoy,” shared Raffer.
Reconnecting with Coronado students
Since retiring in 2018, Steward has reconnected with former students who are now involved with Emerald Keepers at the high school.
Emerald Keepers has clubs at the high school as well as Coronado Middle School and there are also Emerald Keepers student interns.
Now in its third year, the Emerald Keepers internship program has grown from 12 to 18 students, according to Steward.
“I love their passion,” said Steward. “I’m really impressed that they have the time to put into this because they are doing so many different things.”
The student clubs and interns have led several projects at the schools including composting, gardening, recycling, and encouraging the use of reusable water bottles.
“I just help them, I want them to do what they’re interested in,” said Steward. “We just try to make things a little bit better… by trying to educate people and raise awareness.”
Pandemic roll-out
While COVID shut down traditional schools and many community organizations, Emerald Keepers got stronger during the pandemic.
According to the organization’s leadership team, COVID served as a gateway to environmental awareness and involvement.
And rather than halting the organization, Emerald Keepers pushed forward while working on issues such as plastics, water bottle filling stations, and the years-long sewage on local beaches.
Since then the group has worked to become the “only civic non-profit organization in the city of Coronado whose sole purpose is to address local needs related to environmental stewardship and sustainability,” according to the organization.
Christina Slentz, an Emerald Keepers board member who has a doctorate degree in International Studies, said “Amy’s willingness to venture into a new area and learn more” is what has set her apart and differentiated the group in Coronado.
We launched during COVID…in some way, a lot of other things that were shut down created space for us to bring this conversation forward, and we were able to fill that space.”
-Christina Slentz, an Emerald Keepers board member.
“Going back to who she is as a teacher, she understands that her own learning is so vital to having an organization that can continue to grow and produce new knowledge and learning for the community,” Slentz said. “We launched during COVID…in some way, a lot of other things that were shut down created space for us to bring this conversation forward, and we were able to fill that space.”
Environmental action plan
Slentz added that “COVID was kind to us,” especially when the city launched its environmental action plan.
A month into the pandemic in April 2020, it was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Emerald Keepers used that event to create a list of “50 Things You Can Do To Be An Emerald Keeper,” that featured lifestyle changes like opting for reusable materials.
“Emerald Keepers has made the environment part of the conversation of our local governments,” added Slentz.
Since then, more than 1,000 people have signed the Emerald Keepers Pledge and the organization has held a fundraiser using marine debris and shadow boxes artwork with a separate fundraiser expected early next year, according to Steward.
Family environmental ties
Steward and her husband Dan’l Steward are also members of the Rotary Club of Coronado, and she said both groups host separate and joint beach clean-ups.
Her daughter D’amy Steward also dedicates her time to protecting the natural world as an Ocean Steward and Marine Ecologist, graduating from Duke University with a double major in Biology and Environmental Science.
Steward has said D’amy is an inspiration who motivates her work with Emerald Keepers, and her daughter is a recent graduate research assistant and masters student in biology at the University of Guam working on coral restoration efforts.
Boris, Tiger and Pink Floyd
With the Delta Beach Clean coming on Nov. 9, Steward said the effort to clean the beaches began after she witnessed massive piles of trash during a paddle trip last winter.
“This is our fourth year partnering with the Navy on this CleanUp,” said Steward. “Without Emerald Keepers, the beach would not be nearly as clean as we bring people-power to do the work. In December 2022, we called for an emergency cleanup of Delta Beach. We had about 80 volunteers who heard and responded to the call for help.”
Since the group’s inception, Emerald Keepers has installed filtration devices in water recreation areas, collaborated with local youth across environmental leadership programs, and conducted educational outreach for the Coronado community and visitors.
In 2020, Emerald Keepers installed the first marine skimmer at the Coronado Yacht Club to help with water maintenance. Two years later, they installed two more at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club.
Boris, Tiger and Pink Floyd are the affectionate names of the three Marine Skimmers at the yacht clubs.
The dock-like floating dumpster’s main purpose is to scoop out plastics and marine debris to purify surrounding bodies of water, pumping 350 to 400 gallons per minute, according to Steward.
“The water back there was really murky…but after an hour of it being there you could see the bottom of the water,” said Steward about the installation of the first Marine Skimmer Boris, named after one donor’s dog.
Grants from the Rotary Club of Coronado, individual donors and the city have made this effort possible and Steward hopes to add a fourth skimmer at one of the existing locations.
“Our biggest grant came from the County Board of Supervisors for $20,000,” said Steward. “All of these groups and supporters helped with the skimmers.”
Testing local water and air quality
Steward said the Emerald Keepers also are testing and reporting the local water and air quality each week on its website.
She said the goal is to inform the community about how many days the beaches were closed or how many days of unhealthy air quality has been in Coronado by using San Diego County data and what is gathered from purple air monitors installed by Emerald Keepers around town.
“Emerald Keepers seeks to raise awareness about water and air quality in Coronado,” reads the reports page online. “While we don’t know why our air quality is often worse than cities across the bridge, by publishing this information each week, we may begin to understand potential causes.”
Based on the air quality reports, Steward said that Coronado’s air at times has been worse than Barrio Logan and the San Diego International Airport, but she cannot point to a specific reason.
Apart from this, the organization has gotten creative and partnered with VoiceMap, a mobile phone app that provides two separate guided walking tours. It invites individuals to become Emerald Keepers following the tours relating to Coronado’s flora and fauna and the Bayshore Bikeway.
Everything we do is education…We advocate for anything that’s clean.”
-Amy Steward
“Everything we do is education,” said Steward. “We advocate for anything that’s clean.”
Emerald Keepers also has partnered with restaurants and local coffee shops to lead sustainable practices, and it publishes weekly educational pages in the Coronado Eagle and Journal with topics ranging from firework fall out to meatless meals.
Now, Steward looks forward to the recently approved mini electric shuttle program, or the “OZ,” which she says will greatly benefit Coronado and encourage others to think about sustainability.
Steward also has written letters and spoken at San Diego County supervisor meetings, including this year when the board approved an Emergency Declaration on the Tijuana Sewage crisis.
Making Coronado a model city
Steward said Coronado has come a long way on environmental issues, but she would like the city to do even more and become a model community.
“We have good leadership in place at the city, but…they’re one of the few cities without a sustainability officer or director,” said Steward. “By investing now you actually save later.”
Still, Stewart is optimistic about the community’s ability to work as a team and to get things done.
“Unfortunately, climate has been politicized but we say very clearly on our website this is apolitical for us, it’s about the future and what we need to do,” said Steward. “There’s something for everyone and nobody has to do it perfectly…Start doing something and every little bit makes a huge difference and certainly can make a difference in Coronado.”
