36th annual California Coastal Cleanup a success
Under the most unprecedented circumstances in the event’s history, tens of thousands of Californians took part in a month-long cleanup effort as part of the 36th annual California Coastal Cleanup. Ordinarily, the event held on just one day each September, but this year, the state’s largest annual volunteer event (organized by the California Coastal Commission) was spread out over the entire month of September.
Volunteers answered the call to cleanCalifornia’s coast from their own front door. The commission is continuing to gather results, but alreadymore than 10,000 people turned out at over 3,000 cleanups across the state, gathering close to 70,000 pounds of trash from neighborhoods, local parks, creeks, or other natural spaces to which they had safe and easy access. People went out individually, in pairs, and small groups, on foot, in boats, on streets and trails. Many did more than one DIY cleanup over the month and discovered an easy and satisfying way togiveback toourbeautiful state.
Trash in California can flow easily through stormwater systems to reach the coast and ocean once the rains begin, so cleaning neighborhoods and inland areas is one way of preventing trash from polluting the coast.
“Californians cherish our coast, and they proved it yet again under some of the most trying circumstances many of us have faced,” said Jack Ainsworth, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission. “Everything in California flows downhill to our coast, so while this year’s cleanup effortmay have been unusual, itwas still an important and effective way to engage in coastal stewardship.”
The Commission continues to highlight the damage that trash can cause to California’s wildlife, economy, and even human health. According to past cleanup data, 75 percent of the debris that volunteers remove is composed of plastic— most of it single-use, disposable plastic — a material that never completely biodegrades and has numerous harmful consequences in the environment. Plastic pollution can killwildlife, leach toxins into the environment, and even introduce theminto the food chain. Since up to 80 percent of the trash on the California coast originates on land, volunteers across the state helped prevent enormous amounts of trash from ever reaching the ocean, no matter where they participated.
Unusual items found this year
Every- day debris and plastic items weren’t the only things found during Coastal Cleanup Month. Volunteers also picked up a number of “unusual” items during this year’s cleanup. The Winners of the 2020 Most Unusual Item contest are volunteers who found a bowling pin and a nametag that had “I had a pet cow” written on it. Both items were found in Alameda County. The winning volunteers will receive a prize package from the Coastal Commission.
If you participated in the Cleanup, go to www.coastalcleanupday.org to fill out the Coastal Cleanup Survey and be entered into a drawing for some fabulous prizes. To stay involvedwith the cleanup efforts throughout the year, please visit the Adopt-A-Beach page on the same website or send an email to coast4u@coastal. ca.gov.