4,000 Alameda County Residents Volunteer at Annual California Coastal Cleanup

By Amy Prosser (Open Post)

On Saturday, September 19, over 4,000 citizens throughout Alameda County joined 50,000+ volunteers across the state for this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day. According to preliminary reports,

Alameda County volunteers removed over 42,000 pounds of litter (roughly equivalent to the weight of 8 Dodge Durango SUVs) and over 3,000 pounds of recyclables from our shores. Statewide, Californians picked up over 500,000 pounds of trash and an additional 65,000+ pounds of recyclable materials from our beaches, lakes, and waterways. The annual volunteer event is the largest in the state.

“The volunteer showing today was absolutely incredible,” said Eben Schwartz, marine debris program manager for the California Coastal Commission. “Californians embraced our call to action and turned out to beaches and inland waterways across the state to help remove trash before El Niño begins. Once the rains come, all of the exposed debris will wash out to our ocean, so it was critical that we made a huge effort today to ensure that our coast and ocean, and all the wildlife that calls these magnificent places home, are protected.”

The vast majority of litter found in waterways originates inland, where it is carried by rainwater, street runoff, and wind into the storm drain system. From there, trash flows into creeks, the Bay, and the ocean, usually without passing through water treatment plants. “Single-use” disposable plastic items, like cigarette butts, cups, straws, bags, and wrappers, make up most debris found on beaches and shorelines, and are particularly hazardous to marine wildlife who mistake them for food, becoming entangled by or ingesting them. Equally dangerous are tiny plastic fragments that concentrate in the marine food web, poisoning wildlife and potentially entering the human food supply.

California citizens can make a difference every day by stopping litter at its source. Always place trash in garbage cans or recycling containers, buy reusable instead of disposable products, and minimize the purchasing of overly packaged items. For more information about protecting our waterways, visit the Clean Water Program at www.cleanwaterprogram.org, consider joining the Program’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CleanWaterProgram, and upload a photo of yourself taking the pledge against litter at www.luvthebay.org.