“Can I get a hand here?”
The storms came last week and brought us some much needed rain. But they also brought us something else…Trash. Rain washes it into the storm drains and into the ocean. Wind blows over trash cans and sends its bounty on a free flight, which always seems to land on our beaches. Last week, we had heavy rains and gale force winds. That’s a lot of trash!
You can help & here’s how… (Hey, you still have those extra holiday calories to burn off, right?)
This Saturday, January 31st, the Port of San Diego is helping to sponsor a San Diego Coastkeeper clean-up event at Marina View Park from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. This event is the fourth event in a collaborative effort resulting in the Marine Debris program focusing in San Diego’s South Bay. The three prior cleanups helped remove a staggering 1,408 pounds of debris from Paradise Creek, Emory Cove and Chollas Creek. It’s trash to us, but it’s toxic to the many land and marine species that favor our shores.
Both the San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation work together to plan beach clean-ups twice a month along San Diego’s coastline, from Imperial Beach to the Oceanside Pier. Typically, a clean-up on the second Saturday will take place in North County, while San Diego area clean-ups take place on the fourth Saturdays.
Volunteers should wear comfortable clothes, closed toed shoes & bring sunscreen. Coastkeeper will provide bags, gloves and water. Volunteers are encouraged to bring reusable work gloves and reusable buckets or bags to pick up trash, in order to conserve supplies and minimize any additional waste. Trash is later weighed by Coastkeeper, in an effort to spot trends in coastal waste. If you’re still on the fence about lending a hand…
In 2008, over 12,000 volunteers removed more than 185,000 pounds of trash!
