COASTAL CLEAN UP - COME AND HELP OUT!

Let's represent the Coast Guard by helping in the California Coastal Clean Up DAY this Saturday September 20th.

Our station, the families, and any AUX who are interested will be helping out at the Silver Strand Beach location. Volunteers should meet at the north end of Silver Strand and clean up will start at 9:00. We will meet there around 8:30 to collect waivers and such. For anyone who still needs one, I will have a stack of waivers. We would love to see a bunch of our Coast Guard family there. If you do come, make sure to wear something Coast Guard related so we can make our presence known!

Please email me if you have any questions and check back here for any further updates before Saturday.

Let's get out there and do our part for the community!

California Coastal Cleanup Day is the premier volunteer event focused on the marine environment in the country. In 2007, more than 60,000 volunteers worked together to collect more than 900,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from our beaches, lakes, and waterways. California Coastal Cleanup Day has been hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the largest garbage collection" (1993). Since the program started in 1985, over 800,000 Californians have removed more than 12 million pounds of debris from our state's shorelines and coast. When combined with the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by The Ocean Conservancy and taking place on the same day, California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes part of one of the largest volunteer events of the year.

Coastal Cleanup Day is the highlight of the California Coastal Commission's year 'round Adopt-A-Beach program and takes place every year on the third Saturday of September, from 9 a.m. to Noon. In 2008, that day falls on September 20. Coming at the end of the summer beach season and right near the start of the school year, Coastal Cleanup Day is a great way for families, students, service groups, and neighbors to join together, take care of our fragile marine environment, show community support for our shared natural resources, learn about the impacts of marine debris and how we can prevent them, and to have fun! Coastal Cleanup Day is also the kick-off event for Coastweeks—three weeks of coastal and water-related events for the whole family.

Three easy steps to participate in Coastal Cleanup Day, September 20, 2008:

1. Select a location and contact the local coordinator for that area.

Cleanups will be held throughout California along bays, creeks, rivers, highways, and the coast. Select the area that you would like to help clean and then recruit your friends, family and co-workers. Contact the local coordinator (contact info is linked from the counties below) for directions and instructions on cleaning the site. If there is no cleanup site in your local area, you may volunteer to set up a site. Call (800) COAST-4U or e-mail coast4u@coastal.ca.gov

If you are under the age of 18, you will need to get a parent or guardian to sign a waiver form before participating. Read our safety page for more information.

2. Check-In

Wear sunscreen, shoes, hat, and gloves. When you check in at the cleanup location, you will be given trash bags, pencils, and a special data card to tally the items you collect.

3. On the beach...

Data collection is important! Your data goes into the Ocean Conservancy’s international database, which is used to identify the sources of debris and to help devise solutions to the marine debris problem. Be sure to return trash, recyclables and your data card to the beach or site captain after the cleanup.