A Tradition of Success: San Diego Coastal Cleanup Day

A Tradition of Success: San Diego Coastal Cleanup Day

Bringing communities together to accomplish big things   

More than 7,500 volunteers outfitted with gloves, tennis shoes and trash bags worked at more than one hundred sites throughout the San Diego area cleaning the region’s waterways as part of the 32nd Annual Coastal Cleanup Day.

From Alpine and Escondido, to Carlsbad and Imperial Beach, volunteer crews made far-reaching positive impacts to the area’s natural habitats, clearing more than 150,000 pounds of trash and debris from inland streams, rivers, coastal lagoons, beaches and more.

Stopping inland trash from reaching the coast

With an ultimate goal of protecting our oceans and beaches, some may wonder how cleaning inland areas like Eastlake and Poway will make a difference, but there is a simple connection—trash travels. Inland waste will hitch a ride with streams, rivers, storm drains, sewers and even the wind, to eventually collect as litter on our beaches.

Nearly 500 San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) employees joined the enthusiastic volunteer effort, filling buckets and bags with the “usual suspects” of waste—cigarette butts, bottles, cans and food wrappers—as well as some less typical finds, like tennis rackets and shopping carts.

Can't wait for next year?

There’s no need to wait until Coastal Cleanup Day 2017 to help improve your community. Visit our partner and local Coastal Cleanup Day coordinator, I Love a Clean San Diego, to see how you can get involved today.