As the sun sets on another beautiful San Diego summer, thousands will emerge to roll up their sleeves and pick up tons of trash during the 23rd annual California Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday 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 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 turned out at coastal and inland sites cleanup sites ” about 1,000 more than the previous year, Miller said. Because of their effort, San Diego County purged its inland and watershed areas free of 197,000 pounds of trash, she said.
She said she hopes even more volunteers show up this year.
“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 residents will offer their time to pitch in.
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 Rose 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, the precious, natural resource should be protected for all to use. Zirk said.
For now, Zirk and the Friends of Rose Creek will have to protect it themselves but they will be working with the city to bring the creek under one branch of government, she said.
As volunteers prepare for the cleanup, Assemblymember Lori Saldaãa will also host her third annual cleanup at Bonita Cove on Mission Bay. Saldaãa said that last year a group of 45 volunteers cleaned about three miles of shore. She said she always could use more volunteers.
Dog Beach also needs plenty of volunteers because of its location. South of Mission Bay and the San Diego River mouth, it lends itself to pollution and trash from runoff migrating from inland, said Jane Donely, co-owner of Dog Beach Dog Wash.
“We want people to be aware of where [trash] ends up, and that’s Dog Beach.” Donely said. “If they want to come help us that’s fine, but they can also look in there own neighborhoods. We’re all in this together.”
Donely has been working beach cleanups for 19 years and said over the last few years she has seen less trash along Dog Beach. She added, however that plastic is still a continual problem because marine and bird 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.