Earth Day Volunteers Removed 1,165 lbs of Trash

The California Central Coast’s largest Earth Day cleanup effort had one of its most successful turnouts this Saturday. Five hundred and thirty-three volunteers from across Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties celebrated Earth Day with community action at 11 Save Our Shores cleanup sites run by Sanctuary Stewards, Adopt-a-Beach groups and SOS staff.

This year, the 39 year-old Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary based marine conservation nonprofit prevented 1,165 pounds of litter from entering the ocean. Much of the collected litter came in the form of plastic pieces and plastic food wrappers … the small stuff matters the most.

Volunteer leader Carey Pico captured the feeling of the day, “People from all walks of life came out to the beach today to make a difference in their community and for the environment. Kaiser Permanente employees, students from the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and a crew of local neighbors and students descended on the beach for a common cause, take care of the earth as a community!”

Save Our Shores removed 921 pounds of waste from 7 cleanup locations in Santa Cruz County including: Panther State Beach, Natural Bridges State Beach, Cowell and Main Beach, San Lorenzo River, supported by the City of Santa Cruz (Measure E), Sunny Cove Beach and Hidden Beach.

Two hundred forty-four pounds of waste was removed from four cleanup locations in Monterey County including: Del Monte City Beach, Asilomar State Beach, Carmel River State Beach and Rancho Moro Cojo Park (Elkhorn Slough).

Yesenia Lustre, senior at North Monterey County High School said “I never thought about all the trash all around me and how easy it is to pick up, it was fun to cleanup together!”

Of all the cleanup sites, Panther State Beach received the deepest cleansing. Save Our Shores reports volunteers and dedicated Sanctuary Stewards removing nearly 344 pounds from the North Coast gem. Surprisingly, Hidden Beach in Aptos was graced by 85 volunteers, happy and eager to make a difference on Earth Day.

Today, items ranged from large household appliances and auto parts to small plastic products and pre-production nurdles. By far, the most common item collected was cigarette butts and plastic water-bottle caps. More than 750 cigarette butts were collected along the San Lorenzo River Walk in Downtown Santa Cruz alone.

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Save Our Shores would like to thank all of its Earth Day supporting partners and sponsors, in conjunction with the CA State Parks Foundation’s 19th Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup: The County of Santa Cruz Public Works Department, the City of Santa Cruz (Measure E), Elkhorn Slough Foundation, Green Waste, Rio Del Mar Improvement Association Adopt-a-Beach, North Monterey County Regional Parks District, 4th Surf City Scouts Adopt-a-Beach and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies