Hailed by the 1993 Guinness Book of World Records as “the largest garbage collection,”) the day is a premier volunteer event focused on the country’s marine environment. Last year, more than 70,000 volunteers collected more than 1,600,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from the state’s beaches, lakes and waterways.
The program started in 1985, and since then has involved more than 800,000 Californians who have removed more than 13 million pounds of debris from the state’s shorelines and coast.
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Families, students, service groups and friends band together to show support for the marine environment and the community.
When the day is combined with the International Coastal Cleanup organized by the Ocean Conservancy, it becomes one of the largest volunteer events of the year.
For information on this cleanup, call (800) COAST-4U or coast4u@coastal.ca.gov.
Surfrider San Mateo will hold a beach cleanup from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 11 at Poplar Beach.
Another Surfrider Beach Cleanup is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Sharp Park Beach in Pacifica.
For information on the Surfrider cleanups, contact Surfrider San Mateo chapter chair Ed Larenas at (650) 619-4339 or edmundo@surfridersmc.org.
Meanwhile, Save Our Shores hosts its monthly beach cleanup from 10 a.m. to noon Aug. 29 at Tunitas Beach, south of Half Moon Bay. For information, call Emily (831) 462-5660, Ext. 2.
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