Regional commercial airline pilot Joseph Leatherman has another avocation to include as part of his portfolio – domestic beach cleaner and environmental advocate extraordinaire.

Leatherman dropped into Ocean Beach on March 10 to host the community’s inaugural Spring Beach Cleanup. He has also, along with local volunteers, cleaned Mission Beach as well as Pacific Beach and La Jolla.

Why does he do it? He said it started as a challenge from his then-girlfriend. It became so meaningful to him, it is now a regular part of his itinerary.

“I’ve been doing beach cleanups for seven years now,” said Leatherman, adding he started out in Seattle with his ex-girlfriend whom he said “used to do beach cleanups in Alaska for a living” which became “one of the things we did as an activity.”

At about the same time, Leatherman also became environmentally aware and active starting a Facebook group, Eco-Crews, which has since grown to more than 800 members. Eco-Crews’ sole purpose is to promote environmental activism.

“I started this group as a social space, but it went from just social outings to more of a life-changing mission,” he said adding, “It was a passion that I grew into.

“My ex-girlfriend challenged me on New Year’s to go out and pick up garbage for half an hour a weekend,” said Leatherman of the onset of his environmental activism. “But I did one better and started picking up garbage half an hour a day. I ended up doing it every day, and I did that for two solid years.”

It was then that Leatherman’s new avocation really took off. “It was so inspiring to change the environment back to where it should be, restore it,” he said. “I was also able to meet people who share the same passion. I wanted to inspire others to really look at the environment as something that is tangible, that we can change for the better.”

Robert Brandy, owner of Brew Wave Coffee on Newport Avenue in OB, met Leatherman when the pilot came into his place for a cup of joe. “I’m just so impressed with this guy who cleans the beaches every time he comes into town and takes videos and photographs of the cleaning,” Brandy said. “And he does this out of the goodness of his heart. I told him, ‘Let us support you. I know some people in OB we could grassroots a cleanup with.’”

Being goal-oriented, Leatherman noted that, whenever he is in town, he likes to “give back to the experience, rather than just being a tourist and soaking up the energy. Beach cleanups to me … probably the most romantic thing I could possibly do is to beautify the environment. I want to be able to share the model of being environmentally positive with local people, surf shops, and restaurants. I tell them, ‘Let’s connect and do this.’”

Leatherman’s influence extends to his fellow pilots whom he encourages to join in his beach-cleaning forays. He even goes so far as to bring his own cleaning materials with him when he comes to town.

“Most of the time when I travel, I take my pickers and garbage bags and gloves with me,” he said. “I always try to do a cleanup to give back to the communities. I travel with a purpose, and that is to improve the environment wherever I go. Hopefully, I can inspire people to get out and change their world.”