Cleaning up the coast

The 23rd annual California Coastal Cleanup Day was a huge success with more than 1,300 volunteers showing up to clear a total of 4,779 pounds of debris from local beaches.

With 26 sites for volunteers to gather trash, the cleanup covered more than 67 miles of the coast stretching from Piedras Blancas Lighthouse to Point Sal.

The event is organized locally by ECOSLO, an environmental nonprofit organization on Marsh and Nipomo streets. ECOSLO was established in the early 1970s and is known locally for promoting and facilitating the first recycling program in San Luis Obispo.

Volunteer Coordinator and psychology senior Caitlin Madden spent the summer organizing the event and recruiting volunteers.

“Our goal every year is to get more volunteers with less trash to pick up,” said Madden, “meaning more community outreach and less pollution.”

Volunteers found some interesting trash, including five pounds of fireworks at the Pismo Dunes and a 300-pound tractor tire from 24th Street in Cayucos.

All tobacco waste was collected and separated; since the event began in 1985 volunteers have collected 4,281,104 cigarette butts. More will be added later this year.

“Cigarette butts collected from past years helped to get a ban at Pismo and Morro Bay,” Madden said. “This year we’re hoping the data collected will get smoking banned at Avila.”

A veteran to Coastal Cleanup Day, local Mike Coyes, 53, volunteered at his fifth cleanup this year, stationed at Pirate’s Cove. “The parking lot was the worst,” said Coyes. “Corona seems to be the beer of choice for beach-litterers.”

Coyes said he noticed the next day several beer bottles littering the area he had cleaned the morning before.

Coastal Cleanup records statistics on the collected trash for further research on what is specifically polluting beaches.

They have found that 80 percent of marine debris comes from inland sources, moving along creeks and watersheds to reach the ocean.

If you are interested in volunteering for ECOSLO or contacting the organization for information about upcoming events, visit their Web site at www.ecoslo.org.

The site provides guides to local hiking trails, information about a school garden project and an opportunity to enter a prize drawing for the coveted “ECO-Scooter.”