1:12pm
by Melanie Camp
It’s the world’s biggest beach clean up. Tomorrow, Saturday September 17, over 10,000 volunteers are expected to get together across Southern California clean up their local beaches, rivers, creeks and parks as part of the Coastal Cleanup Day.
In Los Angeles Heal the Bay will host over 50 clean up sites tomorrow from Venice Beach to Pasadena. Heal the Bay has served as the Los Angeles Coastal Cleanup Day Coordinator for 26 years. The organization has led the local effort and created a community of environmental stewards as part of its efforts to keep local waters and watersheds healthy.
To join register here.
“We love being able to clean our beloved Santa Monica Bay, but it brings us great pleasure to support local neighborhood cleanups as well. Coastal Cleanup day is the perfect link between Heal the Bay’s science, education, community action, and advocacy efforts that support the organization’s overall environmental mission,” says Heal the Bay’s Randi Parent.
The Ocean Conservancy is the leading agency responsible for the cleanup which is an international effort. They ran their first Coastal Cleanup Day in Texas with 2,800 volunteers back in 1986. Last year, 91 different countries participated and collected more than 16 millions pounds of trash.
Last year 55,191 volunteers across California got together to gather 559,103lbs of trash and 74,867lbs of recyclables from 959 miles of coast and waterways across the state. In Los Angeles county, 9604 volunteered to clear 21,414lbs of trash and 1,197lbs of recyclables from a total of 52 miles. This equals 12 x 1970’s VW Beetles worth of waste from the water’s edge. Combined, volunteers cleaned the length of two marathons.
Shopping carts, a toaster oven, even a dead rooster where some of the less expected finds in last year’s clean up. However, the wallet containing a $100 bill and the 3 working GoPro cameras proved there were some treasures amongst the trash.
The Coastal Cleanup isn’t limited to land only. Last year volunteer SCUBA divers and kayakers took to the sea to collect 584lbs of trash.
To join Team Venice, meet at the southside of the Venice Beach Pier at the end of Washington Blvd. There will be cleaning supplies available but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own buckets and gloves. You will need to sign a waiver before you start cleaning. Either go online to HealTheBay.org and print your own or sign one on site tomorrow.
Cleaning starts at 9:00am and ends at noon.
