As the sun sets on another beautifully hot San Diego summer, thousands will come out of the shade, roll up their sleeves and pick up tons of trash during the 23rd annual California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, Sept. 15, from 9 a.m. to noon. The media kickoff event at the Ocean Beach Pier will have music, free lunch and chances to win prizes.
Presented by the California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market, the countywide effort includes 63 locations throughout San Diego County, from Fallbrook south to Tijuana.
The effort is part of a larger international effort hosted by the Ocean Conservancy, with participation from all 50 states and about 60 countries worldwide.
It’s the largest volunteer event in the world, said Danielle Miller, San Diego Coastkeeper’s coastal coordinator.
Last year, a record-breaking 5,850 volunteers from around San Diego County showed up at coastal and inland clean-up sites, about 1,000 more than the previous year, Miller said. Because of their efforts, San Diego County found its inland and watershed areas relieved of 197,000 pounds of trash, she said.
“The cleanup is a great way for a person to come out and spend a few hours cleaning up their local community and go home feeling like they’ve made a difference in the environment,” Miller said.
Along with volunteers from I Love a Clean San Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper, several community groups, local businesses and concerned persons pitch in.
La Jolla Shores will have a clean-up site sponsored by Hike, Bike, Kayak, 2246 Avenida de la Playa. The business will donate about 50 kayaks, which have already been assigned, to volunteers who will paddle out out and pick up floating debris, manager Jordan Hay said. Like all cleanups on that day, the debris will be collected and tallied, and the results will be faxed to San Diego Coastkeeper for record keeping, he said.
“It’s to take care of our shores “¦ we work in the environment, so it’s important for us to clean it as clean as we can,” Hay said.
The La Jolla Shores cleanup will also have prizes in different events, including strangest recovered object. At a recent cleanup, Hay said someone found an ATM machine floating in the water.
The Friends of Rose Creek will once again watch over their namesake where Rose Creek crosses the 5700 block of Santa Fe Street, said Karin Zirk, volunteer with Friends of Rose Creek
Sections of Rose Creek are neglected because different areas of the creek fall under the jurisdictions of multiple city departments, she said.
“The problem is: out of sight, out of mind,” Zirk said.
As part of the Rose Creek Alliance, a conglomerate of community and environment groups dedicated to saving Rose Creek, Zirk said the precious natural resource should be protected for all to use. For now, Zirk and the Friends of Rose Creek will have to do protect it themselves, but they will be working with the city to bring the creek under one branch of government, she said.
As volunteers shore up to clean up, state Assemblywoman Lori Saldaãa will also host her third annual cleanup at Bonita Cove on Mission Bay. Last year a group of 45 volunteers cleaned approximately 3 miles of shoreline.
Dog Beach will also need a lot of volunteers. Its location south of Mission Bay and the San Diego River mouth lends itself to pollution and trash from inland runoff, said Jane Donely, co-owner of Dog Beach Dog Wash, 4933 Voltaire St.
Donely, who has been working beach cleanups for 19 years, said in the last few years she has seen less trash along Dog Beach. However, she added that plastic is still a big problem because birds and marine life mistake it for food.
As volunteers arrive at the sites, participating groups will offer trash bags, protective gloves and some will offer tools to pick up debris, Miller said. For more information and a list of inland events, visit www.cleanupday.org.