The California Coastal Commission has announced that the 27th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day will take place Saturday, Sept. 17 from 9am to noon (in most locations).
California Coastal Cleanup Day is the state’s largest volunteer event, annually drawing more than 80,000 volunteers to more than 800 cleanup sites along the state’s coast and inland shorelines. Volunteers combine with others around the globe to create the world’s largest volunteer event dedicated to the marine environment— the International Coastal Cleanup— organized by Ocean Conservancy.
“California Coastal Cleanup Day is an opportunity for every Californian, no matter where they may live, to take part in a dramatic act of coastal stewardship,” said Mary Shallenberger, chair of the California Coastal Commission. “Eighty percent of the debris that washes into the ocean off California originates on land, so we need volunteers throughout the state to do what they can to help us stop trash where it starts, and keep our oceans free of debris.”
As in past years, the Commission is supplying all of the materials needed for volunteers to clean beaches and waterways, but the Commission is also asking volunteers to do their part to limit the amount of debris created by the event itself. “The cleanup itself has a plastic footprint, which we are working to reduce,” said Eben Schwartz, outreach manager for the California Coastal Commission. “We are asking volunteers to bring a bucket or reusable bag, along with a pair of gardening gloves, to use at the cleanup rather than creating more waste with the single-use, disposable plastic cleanup supplies we provide. We can move Coastal Cleanup Day towards a zero-waste event, but we need our volunteers’ help to get there.”
Before the cleanup:
1. Find your cleanup location and register (if requested) by visiting coastforyou.org or by calling (800) COAST-4U.
2. Prepare your reusable cleanup supplies: locate a bucket or reusable bag you can wash after the event, grab some gloves, fill up a reusable water bottle, and pack a waste-free lunch.
During the cleanup:
1. Show up to your selected cleanup location with your cleanup supplies, and bring some friends.
2. Remove all the trash you can find and collect data on what you pick up. The data provides a vital snapshot of what is littering the beaches and waterways of California, helps inform educational and policy efforts, and acts as a baseline to evaluate the state’s marine debris efforts throughout the year.
3. Keep an eye out for any unusual items. If you find one, report it to your site captain to be eligible for the state’s annual Most Unusual Item Contest.
After the cleanup:
1. Log on to Ecoplates.com to enter your name into a drawing to win a $1,000 gift certificate to Whole Foods Market or one of several destination prize packages, supplied by partnering convention and visitors’ bureaus across the state.
2. While on Ecoplates.com, purchase a new Whale Tail License Plate! Funds from the sale of the newly redesigned plate support Coastal Cleanup Day, grants to local efforts throughout the state, along with a host of other critical coastal and marine education efforts.
3. Participate year-round by signing up for the Adopt-A-Beach Program. Details at coastforyou.org.
To participate on a local level, contact one of the following:
City of Long Beach
El Dorado Nature Center
longbeach.gov/naturecenter
Erin Kellogg & Brooke Davis
(562) 570-4876
brooke.davis@longbeach.gov
Heal the Bay
healthebay.org/ccd
Eveline Bravo & Asma Mahdi
(800) HEAL-BAY
ccd-3jun11@healthebay.info ß
