■ Fewer volunteers than in past years, but they picked up ‘more trash per capita’

A smaller number of Benicians turned out for Saturday’s local effort in the California Coastal Cleanup, but they worked hard to pick up 3,700 pounds of garbage in a few hours, said Sue Frost Alfeld, Coastal Cleanup coordinator for Vallejo and Benicia.

“The cleanup ran really smoothly,” Frost Alfeld said.

She said 601 people showed up for the annual event. That’s a little more than last year’s 525 volunteers, but last year’s cleanup happened on a rainy day. The 2012 Coastal Cleanup attracted 902 people on a sunnier day.

Despite the weather, the 2013 crowd recovered 3,200 pounds of trash, about 600 pounds more than the larger group of volunteers picked up in 2012. The trend continued this year, with volunteers picking up “more trash per capita,” Frost Alfeld said.

In addition to garbage, volunteers found 25 pounds of items that could have been recycled. However, many of the items are contaminated by dirt and water, she said, and will end up as trash.

On the other hand, she said, more Benicians apparently are recycling items correctly, rather than throwing them away or dumping them into the environment.

As with other cleanup efforts at sites throughout the state, Benicia volunteers found some odd items, though not as many as in the past, Frost Alfeld said.

At West 12th Street, volunteers found an abandoned artificial Christmas tree and an accompanying holiday wreath.

Near Benicia High School, someone found a school chair.

In the Benicia State Recreation Area, volunteers pulled out a car bumper that still had its license plate, and someone found a boot heel on West Sixth Street.

Benicia Lions Club and Benicia’s city government collaborated again on lunch for volunteers, Frost Alfeld said.

The club cooked between 250 and 300 hot dogs, she said, and then served ice cream contributed by Umpqua Bank.

“That was a treat!”

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