Official U.S. Navy website - Commander Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

PEARL HARBOR - More than 40 Sailors assigned to Afloat Training Group Middle Pacific (ATG MIDPAC) worked together to clean up Rainbow Bay Marina in Pearl Harbor April 22, Earth Day.

Chief Operations Specialist (SW/AW) Brian Dallke, who is majoring in environmental studies, coordinated the event as part of the command's participation on Earth Day.

"We hope to generate a culture that recycles," said Dallke. "Every little thing we could do to recycle, we should recycle."

ATG MIDPAC spent the whole morning filling more than 80 trash bags of rubbish, including recyclables such as cardboard, cans and bottles.

"A lot of us live on Ford Island, and we all work there," said Cmdr. Les Cardenas, ATG MIDPAC executive officer. "Where we work is our home, and we want to make it beautiful. We want to give back something to the community. They give us a great place to live and work. We've done this for the past several years. Every year without much effort we always get a very big turnout."

The Navy has been active partners with the city of Honolulu since 2005 and participates in several adopt-a-block and adopt-a-stream projects throughout the year.

Since 1970, April has traditionally observed as Earth Month and designated as a time for people to become more environmentally conscious. The Navy has been involved in several environmental stewardship efforts, both ashore and at sea.

ATG MIDPAC provides dynamic, quality afloat training for the Navy and Coast Guard to ensure a combat-ready force capable of performing a broad spectrum of maritime missions.

For more news from Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnrh/.