Volunteers pitch in to clean 1,493 pounds of trash from San Diego beaches

More than 525 volunteers pitched in July 5 to help clean up four beaches around San Diego as part of the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s annual Fourth of July “Morning After Mess” beach series. The Surfrider Foundation, a San Clemente, California-based organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans and beaches through the deployment of its activist network, makes the Fourth of July cleanup a priority because of the sizable beach traffic the holiday generates.   

Surfrider Foundation volunteers working along with I Love a Clean San Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper volunteers targeted Ocean Beach Pier, Fiesta Island, Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach and the Oceanside Pier because of their status as popular destinations and for their relatively high concentrations of post-Independence Day trash volumes.

Working from 9 a.m. to noon, participants were able to rid 1,493 pounds of debris from the beaches. The debris, which consisted mainly of single-use plastics, included more than 8,000 cigarette butts, 1,535 plastic food wrappers and 349 plastic food service items.

“The more people visit the beach, the more trash ends up on the beach,” Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter Coordinator Mitch Silverstein says. “But it doesn’t have to be that way. Most of what our volunteers pick up could be avoided if we chose reusable items instead of single-use ones. Start simple—reusable bags, reusable water bottle, reusable coffee mug. Those three items will cut your waste footprint drastically, and they’ll help keep our streets and beaches clean.”