September 10, 2008

Clean up our coast

The 24th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day presented by the California Coastal. Commission and Whole Foods Market is scheduled for Sept. 20, from 9 a.m. to noon. Tens of thousands of Californians will gather along the beaches, shorelines, and inland waterways of the state to clear away the debris that has been deposited over the past year.

Last year, 61,122 Coastal Cleanup volunteers - a 20 percent jump from the previous record for volunteer turnout - collected nearly one million pounds of trash and recyclables from over 2,400 miles of shoreline around the state. With 48 out of 58 counties taking part, the 2007 cleanup also had the largest geographic reach ever achieved. Cleanups will take place at over 750 sites on California beaches, bays, rivers, creeks, parks, roadsides, and highways.

“California Coastal Cleanup Day is the state’s premier volunteer event,” said Eben Schwartz, outreach manager for the California Coastal Commission. “Since the first cleanup in 1985, more than 800,000 of us have taken part in this effort, which has helped the cleanup become the state’s best opportunity to educate its citizens about the health of our coast and ocean. Coastal Cleanup Day teaches all Californians that our everyday actions have broad implications for the well-being of our oceans and the habitat and wildlife that depend on them.”

California Coastal Cleanup Day 2007 is supported by the California Coastal Commission, California State Parks Foundation and the Ocean Conservancy. This event is made possible by the hard work of hundreds of local non-profits and government agencies throughout the state and tens of thousands of volunteers annually. Call 1 (800) COAST-4U or visit www.coast4u.org for more information.