Coastal Clean Up Day is Day Is September 17

A very important day is coming up September 17. International Coastal Clean Up Day. While many may think ‘I don’t live at a beach or a waterway’, everything we do effects our water and coasts. The minute you use fertilizers, wash down your car with soapy water, litter (intentionally or unintentionally) it goes into our sewers and ends up in the water. Those ‘invisible’ pollutants effect the total environment, killing animals and people alike.

Creative Commons: DIEGO GARCIA (Sept. 14, 2012) Service members and residents of Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, clean up trash at Barton Point. More than 130 personnel attended the beach cleanup, assisting in the collection of 4,100 pounds of trash. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Eric A. Pastor/Released) 120914-N-XY761-109 Join the conversation www.facebook.com/USNavy www.twitter.com/USNavy navylive.dodlive.mil — Sept. 14, 2012: Service members and residents of Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, clean up trash at Barton Point. 130+ people assisted in the collection of 4,100 pounds of trash. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Eric A. (CC image)

Coastal Cleanups are multi-facted, they pull together people with a common cause and let people see the amount of waste and trash and the effects they have the environment. The ultimate benefit is a clean environment.

In 2015 More than 800,000 volunteers picked 18 Million Tons of trash.
35-50% of Sea Turtles have ingested Plastic Scientists say
250 million metric tons of plastic are estimated to make its way into our ocean by 2025.

It is very easy to get involved and will only take a few hours of your day. Even if you don’t officially sign up, take an hour and pick up trash or a waterway near your house or work.

To Find a location either search clean up and your city or go to Ocean Conservancy to find a location near you. Included are international sites as well.

For those living in California, we have provided a few links to get you started.

California Coastal Cleanup Day– ‘was first organized by the Coastal Commission, but the idea of a statewide cleanup event did not come from California. In 1984, Oregon resident Judy Neilson had grown concerned over the amount of plastic debris she saw littering the Oregon coast. In October of that year, Judy organized the first statewide beach cleanup event, calling it the “Plague of Plastics.” California watched, admired, and in 1985, emulated Judy’s efforts with its first statewide Coastal Cleanup Day. ‘

Coastal Cleanup in San Diego– volunteers removed more than 150,000 pounds of trash in San Diego. What they found: set of dentures in good shape, a full fish tank, a dragon statue and a MacBook computer.
San Diego Coastkeeper
I Love a Clean San Diego
Newport Bay Conservancy-Upper Newport Bay watershed (the network of storm drains, rivers, creeks, and canals that all flow into the bay) covers 154 square miles, and encompasses the communities of Newport Beach, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, Costa Mesa, and Santa Ana.
Heal The Bay (Los Angeles)
Ventura County Coastal Cleanup (Ventura County) 2015 stats; 1,029 volunteers collected over 2,875 pounds of trash and 1,348 pounds of recyclables from 25 sites from Rincon Beach Park to Guadalupe Dunes in Santa Barbara County!
Golden Gate (San Francisco)
Save Our Shores (Santa Cruz area) They have many cleanups available in case you can’t make coastal clean up day. 2014 Results; 3,884 volunteers at 83 sites located between Waddell Creek and Big Sur: 24,379 pounds of pollution and debris. Santa Cruz County: 2,588 volunteers collected 14,459 pounds of waste. Monterey County: 1,296 volunteers removed 9,920 pounds of waste. Top five dirtiest cleanup sites, in order: Elkhorn Slough Research Reserve (4,800 lbs), Lompico Creek at Lompico Park (4,100 lbs), Felton Covered Bridge Park (2,700 lbs), Upper Carr Lake (2,062 lbs), and San Lorenzo River at Fillmore Street in Ben Lomond (817 lbs).
Pounds of trash: in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties combined: 22,906 lbs.Pounds of recycling: in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties combined: 3,172 lbs.
Point Reyes National Park: 2015: 78 volunteers collected approximately 357 pounds of garbage and marine debris from Drakes Beach on September 19, 2015, 39 pounds of which were sorted for recycling. Interesting pieces of trash gathered were: a surfboard, random single shoes (none of which had pairs), and a pillow! The most common pieces of trash were french tubes, shot gun shells, and broken pieces of plastic.
Solano County (Fairfield, Northern California) Clean up results since 1996