Not to sound like my mother… in the old days, we went to the beach with a beach towel and maybe zinc oxide and a pair of what we called cloppers. Today when people go to the beach, they take a wagon load of junk: tents, beach towels, beach toys, disposable styrofoam ice chest or coolers, food to last 3 days, drinks enough to hydrate an army, sunscreens, hats, cell phones (lets enjoy the beach!) antiseptic wipes, BBQ’s, tote bags, extra clothes, shoes, chapstick, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hair accessories, ear plugs, goggles, masks, fins…… After feasting and selfing all day and when it is time to leave.. they leave their disposable beach chair, disposable boogie board (bought at the beach, disposable beach toys (bought at the beach) disposable beach mats (bought at the beach) souvenir packaging (bought at the beach) and food all over the beach the parking lot and or stuffed into a trash can.
For those who do actually pick up their trash they dump in the nearest trash cans. Most will NOT walk 5 feet to a trash can that is empty… 
The problem: The trash cans amounts were established in the days when people actually bought ‘Products For Life’ and they took care of their things to be reused over and over again. The current trash cans are not set up to take the amount of trash each person generates during the course of their beach day. Now if the average trash disposal is 4.6 pounds per person per day and there is let’s say 200 people just at Belmont Park.. That is over 9000 pounds of trash being generated in a city block. You would need 200 trashcans to ensure that the above does not happen. I can tell you this, there is no 200 trashcans in the direct area of Belmont Park in Mission Beach.
The amount of fast food and cups, straws, styrofoam containers, broken beach chairs, disposable boogie boards, drinks, towels and huge pizza boxes that take up a tremendous amount of space in trash cans.. all which overflow, particularly on weekends and during the summer.
The problem with overflowing trash cans, is much of it gets blown back into the ocean or the birds carry it off and again it lands up in the ocean.
These are common sights all year in Mission Beach, especially south Mission Beach. It is worsening with the onslaught of vacation rentals and better weather. Previous to AirBNB and HomeAway, you saw this from May to September. Tourists are primarily the ones taking advantage of lower winter rates and the amenities of Belmont Park and lifeguards all year. Visitors do not have the wherewithall
Picnickers and Partiers contribute to plastic pollution as well. Note the amount of plastic cups and straws in the trash.
Overflowing trash cans are daily in Mission Beach, both at Belmont Park and the South Mission Beach Jetty. The City does not always start a daily trash service along the beach. These overloaded trash can sit blowing out to sea for several days.
This is not just a San Diego problem and there are other cities that experience the same issues and are experimenting with solutions:
Several cities have removed trash cans with the hope that people will pack it in and pack it out .
- Park Service Removes Garbage Cans in Ocean Beach
- New York City subway system, a similar experiment has begun to provide data that Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say is promising. In 2011, they removed garbage cans from two stations—one in Manhattan and another in Queens—with the aim of decreasing the volume of trash hauled out. They’ve broadened that pilot program to 39 stations where commuters find no designated place to toss their coffee cups and snack wrappers. “We saw an uptick in litter at the beginning of the pilot,” said MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz. “But the amount of litter now is almost on par with stations that have cans.” (Take Part)
- At Delaware’s coastal state parks, there is a different strategy. What visitors carry in, they must carry out. There are no waste cans.
- In an effort to keep St. Simons Island’s seashore litter-free, the Glynn County Public Works Department has taken all the trash cans off the public beaches. (The Brunswick News)
Recycling Bins at the beach: On Holiday weekend large cardboard boxes are set up to absorb recyclables and extra trash. Rarely do they make it to a recycle center. The pickers are out in droves. Not only that, it appears that quite a few people cannot read as they do not know the difference between the two boxes.
- Ft Lauderdale has blue recycling bins at the beach:
Anti-litter campaigns at the beach
- Ocean City, Maryland has spiffed up their trash cans in order to promote an anti-litter campaign and a beautification initiative. Art “Can” Clean Beaches, takes its inspiration from a Florida-based nonprofit program called “Creative Cans in the Sand. (Source)
- Trash Free Maryland is launching a multi-year social marketing campaign to reduce land-based litter in Baltimore City (Source)
I do not believe eliminating trash cans is the answer. Our solutions here in San Diego have to start with the City of San Diego and Mayor Kevin Falconer making a commitment to end amount of trash at the beach. It starts with education and signage. We need Big Signs, We need artwork, We need billboards at the park and the beach asking people not to litter, educating people about litter.
Taking responsibility, no doubt that beachgoers have responsibility, but the city and park and recreation department who collect taxes and revenue from business have a major responsibility to keep both the beaches and the ocean clean.
Resources