I Love A Clean San Diego engaged nearly 900 elementary school students and volunteers at Mission Beach for the 24th annual Kids’ Ocean Day on Thursday, May 18. Instead of turning a blind eye to the abundance of litter found across San Diego’s coastline and the Pacific Ocean, the students channeled their appreciation for the environment into action to protect it. During this four-hour event, the students and volunteers significantly improved the health and beauty of San Diego’s natural environment by removing litter and forming a stunning aerial art image of a snorkeler, jellyfish, sea star, garibaldi and the words “Come Together.”
All the students who participated attend local Title I schools and otherwise may not have the means to go to the beach. For some students, this event was their first beach experience. The youth participants represented Central Elementary, Ericson Elementary, Fay Elementary, Joyner Elementary, Porter Elementary, Spreckels Elementary, and Whitman Elementary.
Following the cleanup, students created a piece of living art – an aerial art image to spell out “Come Together” along South Mission Beach. This powerful image shows that each individual role plays a crucial part in accomplishing the larger goal of protecting the coastline, ocean, and marine wildlife friends. With more than five trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans, now is the time to make a difference. If the world continues as is, it is estimated that pieces of plastics will soon outnumber fish in the ocean. The good news is that everyone, including youth, can contribute to creating a cleaner future.
Kids’ Ocean Day was made possible through the generous support of many sponsors, including California’s Coastal Commission’s Whale Tale grant program, Cox Communication, Sony, Qualcomm, Jack in the Box, Kohl’s, Einstein’s Bagels, Starbucks, Jimbo’s Natural Grocers, and Outside the Lens. Groups of volunteer teams were also in attendance representing Millennium Health, San Diego County Bar Association, HP Inc., Kohl’s, and Jack in the Box. 
Kids’ Ocean Day is one of hundreds of cleanups hosted by ILACSD. In 2016, ILACSD mobilized over 33,000 volunteers who removed nearly half a million pounds of debris from San Diego County. ILACSD’s next cleanup, with Councilmember Lorie Zapf, will take place at Bonita Cove in Mission Bay on Saturday, June 10, from 9 a.m. to noon. For more information about how to get involved, visit CleanSD.org.