San Diego Coastkeeper

San Diego County Gears Up for 22nd Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day
One of World’s Largest Volunteer Events – One Month Away

SAN DIEGO, CA - With one month until the 22nd annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, cocoordinators I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) and San Diego Coastkeeper (SDCK) are anticipating the most successful event yet. California Coastal Cleanup Day, presented by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, will be held September 16th, 2006 from 9AM to noon in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup, making this event one if the largest international volunteer events of the year. This year’s cleanup includes nearly 60 sites in San Diego alone, both coastal and inland, stretching from Fallbrook to Baja California.

Statewide, volunteers will conduct well over 700 separate cleanups, removing debris from more than 2,000 miles of coast and inland shorelines of bays, creeks, rivers, and lakes. Last year, 48,250 volunteers collected over 970,000 pounds of debris from 45 counties statewide, making Coastal Cleanup Day 2005 the largest event in California’s history in terms of volunteers and pounds of debris.

“Most of the rise in the amount of trash we picked up resulted from growth of the event into new areas, especially inland areas that are typically underserved when it comes to volunteer cleanups,” said Eben Schwartz, Director of California Coastal Cleanup Day. “When you recognize that all those inland waterways will eventually drain to the ocean, you realize that all that extra trash picked up on Coastal Cleanup Day from inland shorelines contributes to keeping our coasts and ocean debris free.”

This year’s San Diego Cleanup will build on the success of last year’s event, when 4,685 volunteers removed 209,789 pounds of debris from over 120 miles of San Diego’s inland areas, waterways and coastlines. The most commonly reported items were cigarette butts, plastics, glass, and aluminum cans. Collected debris will be recorded again on data cards provided by The Ocean Conservancy and used to study marine pollution and its sources, giving volunteers an active role in an important worldwide environmental study.

Coastal Cleanup Day 2006 in San Diego is being presented by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors through the support of Supervisor Greg Cox and Supervisor Pam Slater-Price who have generously contributed to the event for the past three years. I Love A Clean San Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper are pleased to have Albertsons as a Countywide sponsor and Channel 10 and Sempra Energy’s Come Clean San Diego partnership on board as media sponsors, which will allow for more engagement of the community in Coastal Cleanup Day. Other local sponsors include: City of San Diego’s Think Blue program, Digiteers, SeaWorld, Hornblower, Birch Aquarium, Sony, KPRI, San Diego County’s Department of Public Works, Coastal Community Foundation, and Dog Beach Dog Wash.

As summer winds to a close and the school year begins, Coastal Cleanup Day is a great opportunity for families, students, service groups, businesses, and communities to join together in an effort to preserve our marine environment, learn about the impacts of marine debris, and have fun! This year ILACSD and SDCK have launched their 1st annual coloring contest for children in kindergarten through 6th grade. Contest details along with all other Coastal Cleanup Day information, including a list of cleanup sites, can be found on the official San Diego CCD web site. Volunteers of all ages can make a difference and are encouraged to be a part of one of the largest volunteer events in the world by visiting www.cleanupday.org.

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San Diego Coastkeeper: San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. We balance community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem. Dedicated to the belief that we all have a right to clean water, Coastkeeper is the largest professional organization dedicated solely to the monitoring and protection of San Diego’s coastal areas and waterways.

I Love A Clean San Diego: Through outreach, community involvement and example, I Love A Clean San Diego leads and educates our community to actively conserve and enhance the environment. As one of San Diego County's oldest and largest environmental education non-profit organizations, ILACSD promotes awareness of environmental issues including resource conservation, waste reduction, recycling, community enhancement, and pollution prevention.