California Coastal Cleanup Day Kicks Off in September

By the Solano Resource Conservation District

The California Coastal Commission is proud to announce that the 28th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day will take place on Saturday, September 15th, 2012. The event will take place at more than 850 locations around the state, comprising the largest single effort to remove the debris that has accumulated on California’s beaches and inland areas over the past year. For coastal regions, this year’s event will also provide one of the first opportunities for Cleanup organizers to measure a baseline of debris on our shores that may have washed up as a result of last year’s devastating tsunami in Japan.

“We hope to be able to identify trends in these potential tsunami debris indicators that could help us firmly establish when, or if, the debris from the tsunami is starting to arrive in bulk along our shores,” said Eben Schwartz, Marine Debris Program Manager for the California Coastal Commission. “At the same time, we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that the California coast is polluted by thousands of tons of debris every single year, no matter what natural disasters may or may not have occurred. The most important thing for us to do at the moment is to capture the increased volunteer momentum around marine debris that we are seeing right now. We want to be able to direct those volunteers to cleanup events where they can be safely overseen and put to work by our trained volunteer organizers while helping rid our coast of debris, no matter where it might have originated.”

Coastal Cleanup Day is a massive undertaking, bringing together partners from around the state to implement grassroots cleanups on the ground. “In Solano County, your local governments, wastewater agencies, garbage providers and community groups have established over 55 cleanup sites. The campaign of ‘Every Piece of Trash You Remove Reveals Something Beautiful’ happens at places like the Suisun Marsh, San Pablo Bay, along the Delta or wherever you happen to be enjoying the outdoors. So sign-up and be part of California’s largest volunteer event!” said Narcisa Untal, Solano County’s Integrated Waste Management Planner. “This is why Coastal Cleanup Day takes place not only along the coast, but also at marshes, bays, creeks and drainage ditches throughout the County, and all over California – it’s an attempt to stop trash from becoming marine debris in the first place,” added Marianne Butler of Solano Resource Conservation District who serves as the countywide coordinator.

The Coastal Commission is also promoting a reusables campaign through “Bring Your Own for Coastal Cleanup Day, or BYO for CCD” to encourage volunteers to bring a reusable bucket, gloves and durable water bottle from home, instead of using the single-use trash bags, disposable plastic gloves and individual plastic water bottles that are provided at each site. It is estimated that it requires about 10,000 kilograms of oil, or about 67 barrels, in energy and raw material, to produce the amount of plastic trash bags used during the 2009 California Coastal Cleanup Day. “BYO reduces the demand on natural resources needed to generate single-use products and re-directs our attention in finding more uses for the things we already have” said Untal. 

This year’s Coastal Cleanup Day will take place on Saturday, September 15th from 9 AM to Noon at 55 sites in Solano County. To volunteer, please visit Recycle.SolanoCounty.com or contact Marianne Butler at 707.301.5778.