Volunteers with four environmental organizations removed almost 4,000 pounds of trash from beaches Friday following the Fourth of July.
The San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation hosted the annual “Morning After Mess” beach cleanups. I Love a Clean San Diego, the San Diego River Park Foundation and San Diego Coastkeeper supported the effort.
Volunteers converged on Ocean Beach Pier, Ocean Beach Dog Park, Belmont Park, Crystal Pier and the Oceanside Pier and collected 3,916 pounds of trash and recycling.
According to San Diego Surfrider Chapter Manager Mitch Silverstein, the cleanups indicate a reliance on disposable items.
“Most of what our volunteers pick up could be avoided if we chose reusable items instead of disposable ones,” Silverstein said. “Start simple – reusable bags, reusable water bottles, reusable coffee mugs. Those three items will cut your waste footprint drastically, and they’ll help keep our streets and beaches clean.”
At Surfrider’s 2018 beach cleanups, roughly 75 percent of all the collected trash included at least some plastic.
San Diego Surfrider hosts another cleanup at 9 a.m. Saturday at Oceanside Pier.
– City News Service