Carlsbad Volunteers to Assist in Tsunami Debris Cleanup at Coastal Cleanup Day

I Love A Clean San Diego, the longest running environmental nonprofit in San Diego, has coordinated Coastal Cleanup Day for more than 20 years. This year, ILACSD is excited to take this event on as the sole coordinator, making ILACSD the go-to organization for countywide cleanups in San Diego.

Coastal Cleanup Day, held this year on September 15th, is the largest environmental volunteer event in San Diego County each year. The mission of the event is to engage volunteers of all ages to remove trash and debris from local beaches, bays, canyons and creeks; to identify the sources of the debris; and ultimately change the behaviors that cause pollution. Learn more about the event at www.cleanupday.org.

Tsunami Debris has become an increasingly hot topic as CCD approaches. The Japanese government estimated that 5 million tons of debris from the earthquake and tsunami washed into the Pacific Ocean. Of that debris, roughly 3.5 million tons sank immediately, while the other 1.5 million tons were buoyant enough to enter the Pacific Ocean currents, slowly making its way toward the West Coast of the United States.

Over the past seventeen months, the Japanese Government and US federal agencies have attempted to predict debris movement, however tsunami debris has been reported making landfall on the West Coast much earlier than initial estimations.

Coastal Cleanup Day represents an ideal opportunity for San Diegans to join in this response effort. ILACSD hopes to engage roughly 8,000 volunteers in cleanup activities at over 85 sites around San Diego County, both along the coastline as well as inland at local canyons, creeks, parks, and urban areas.

The combination of 3 million local residents and year-round tourism contributes to an excessive amount of trash being generated in the San Diego region. Each year thousands of tons of garbage end up on the beaches and in our waterways. 80 percent of this debris comes from land-based sources, travelling through San Diego’s vast watershed system, endangering wildlife and human health.

B.Y.O.! Reduce your use, bring reusables. To continue our focus on reducing waste we ask volunteers to bring their own reusable cleanup supplies, such as reusable water bottles, gardening gloves, and buckets to collect trash.

Can't make it on September 15th? You can still support Coastal Cleanup Day by texting the word CLEAN to 80888 to donate $10 to I Love A Clean San Diego. Your donation is an easy way to preserve the San Diego way of life that we all know and love by protecting our natural environment!

Visit www.cleanupday.org and register to volunteer today!