Staff Report

According to a news release by Carrie Chase, Benicia’s water quality technician, 555 people came to the city’s shores and streets to pick up more than two metric tons of debris during the 34th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.

According to Chase, the No. 1 item picked up this year was cigarette butts followed by food waste. Some of the more unusual items uncovered were a pitchfork and a bottle with a message inside. (No word on whether or not this bottle came from Sting.)

Coastal Cleanup Day is a community event that encourages citizens to participate in cleaning up trash to help keep waterways clean.

“We are finding more trash from the illegal dumping along our inland roads and waterways,” Sue Frost, Benicia’s Coastal Cleanup coordinator, said in a statement. “Approximately 80 percent of the trash that ends up in our creeks, rivers and oceans is generated from litter on the streets and highways.”

Participants included families, community leaders and students at all Benicia school levels.

“We had volunteers that ranged in age from toddlers to 98-year-old World War II vets,” Frost said.

International Cleanup is the world’s largest volunteer effort for oceans and waterways. People from all over the world remove trash from the shores and document the findings. The data is then compiled and published in an annual report on mrine debris by the Ocean Conservancy.

On a local level, according to the event organizer California Coastal Commission, participants in this year’s statewide event collected hundreds of tons of trash from over 1,000 sites in 55 of California’s 58 counties, making it the largest collection of site’s in the cleanup’s history.

“This event accumulates enough data to generate legislature that helps toward the reduction of items such as cigarette butts, plastic bags and polystyrene,” Chase wrote.

Those who wish to learn more about Benicia’s coastal cleanup efforts may contact Chase at 746-4337 or cchase@ci.benicia.ca.us.
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