Once again, Surfrider Foundation San Diego and its partners are holding their “Morning After Mess” Beach Cleanup Series on Wednesday, July 5. For the Ocean Beach area, there are clean-ups planned at the OB Pier and at the Ocean Beach Dog Park Estuary from 8-11 a.m..
Anyone can participate. and registration is here. https://sandiego.surfrider.org/mam .
Bags, gloves, and trash grabbers will be provided while supplies last, but participants are encouraged to bring their reusable supplies if they have them.
Cleanups will also be held at Imperial Beach, Mission Beach Park, Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, Fiesta Island, Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, and the Oceanside Pier.
Surfrider volunteers will host the Imperial Beach, Ocean Beach Pier, and Oceanside Pier sites. Partner organizations will be hosting San Diego River Park Foundation at Dog Beach, San Diego Coastkeeper at Mission Beach, I Love A Clean San Diego at Fiesta Island, Paddle For Peace at Pacific Beach, and Un Mar De Colores at Moonlight Beach.
The Surfrider Foundation has long referred to July 5th as “The Morning After Mess.” In 2022, 500 volunteers removed 1,600 pounds of trash from five beaches in only two hours. Volunteers remove incredible amounts of red, white, and blue single-use plastic cups, food packaging, abandoned belongings, fireworks, and cigarette butts from beaches — not only in San Diego but across the country.
Alex Ferron, chapter manager for Surfrider Foundation San Diego, stated:
“These cleanups raise awareness about how prevalent single-use plastic items, are and help us document exactly what ends up on the sand, so we can advocate for informed policy reform. We hope to see folks ditch common single-use plastic items. Plastic waste like bottled water, cups, plates, utensils, etc., can be easily replaced with reusable versions — which are much less likely to be left behind and help reduce our collective impact.”
The Surfrider Foundation San Diego has a handful of programs working to fight plastic pollution in San Diego. The Rise Above Plastics program has been key in introducing and passing single-use plastic and polystyrene ordinances across San Diego County. The program uses outreach, education, and advocacy to cut down on single-use plastics before they reach the coast.
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It will be interesting to know whether there is less a mess on OB beaches today than other 4ths because of the ability to view the drone show from all over OB and PL.
I would think there would be a lot less strictly based on the number of people who showed up in OB yesterday. Not nearly as big a crowd as when there are proper fireworks.