Countdown to Trash Extinction

Coastal Commission’s 29th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Coastal Commission is proud to announce that the 29th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, the state’s largest volunteer event, will take place on Saturday, September 21, 2013. The event is expected to draw more than 70,000 volunteers who will combat marine debris at over 800 locations throughout the state by removing the trash that has accumulated on California’s beaches and inland shorelines over the past year.

To raise awareness and prompt volunteers to register for the Cleanup, the Commission will launch a “Countdown to Trash Extinction” campaign on Friday, August 23. In the 29 days leading up to Coastal Cleanup Day, the Commission will post information on its Facebook page and Twitter feeds to enlist Californians in learning about the trash that litters our coast and inland shorelines: what it is, why it’s so damaging to our aquatic and coastal environments, and what they can do to help keep trash out of our environment throughout the year.

The Coastal Cleanup Day campaign artwork is available for viewing and downloading at www.coastalcleanupday.org. It highlights several of the most insidious litter items found each year. These include bottle caps and lids, plastic and glass bottles, and cigarette butts, which remain the number one item found each year, generally accounting for about 40 percent of all trash picked up on Coastal Cleanup Day.

Volunteers have always been the heart and soul of the Cleanup. More than 1.2 million volunteers have taken part in the Cleanup since it began in 1985, removing over 19 million pounds of debris from California’s shorelines. Organizing those volunteers at locations around the state requires incredible coordination from more than 60 different non-profit organizations, local governments, and state agencies. By combining efforts with like-minded organizations around the state, the Coastal Commission has been able to greatly increase its ability to mobilize the citizens of California to become stewards of our coast and ocean.

Another vital part of this network is our sponsor team providing the necessary funding and marketing support that makes the Cleanup a huge success. The Coastal Cleanup Day Program is proud to have long-standing partnerships with Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water, Whole Foods Markets, and Oracle. These corporate partners have been the backbone of this event, enabling it to take place year after year. A new partner this year, Chipotle Mexican Grill, is planning to help reward all the hard working (and hungry!) Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers by providing a free entrée currency card to each individual.

Coastal Cleanup Day provides a way for tens of thousands of Californians to remove trash from our environment, but also reinforces that each of us, as consumers of goods and producers of those goods, has a responsibility to reduce, prevent and clean up marine debris. Another partner of the Cleanup, Lindamar Industries, is doing just that by producing fully compostable plastic bags. They have donated 10,000 of them for use on Coastal Cleanup Day in San Francisco, where municipal composting makes it possible to dispose of these bags properly.

Coastal Cleanup Day 2013 will take place on Saturday, September 21 from 9 a.m. to Noon in most locations. For more information on the Cleanup and the Let’s Make Trash Extinct campaign, please visit www.coastalcleanupday.org. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/CaliforniaCoast and on Twitter at twitter.com/cleanupday.

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The California Coastal Commission, California State Parks Foundation and Ocean Conservancy support California Coastal Cleanup Day 2013. This event is made possible by the hard work of hundreds of local non-profits and government agencies throughout the state and tens of thousands of volunteers annually.