The San Diego Clean Beach Coalition (SDCBC) is a collaboration of local non-profit organizations and city agencies focused on coastal stewardship, raising awareness of beach litter issues and preventing marine debris.
In anticipation of this year’s 4th of July festivities and a busy summer season, non-profit organizations, local government agencies, and community groups have joined forces to form the SDCBC in an effort to prevent the hoards of litter that contaminate our treasured coastline every summer.
SDCBC objectives include: creating awareness of the resources available for beachgoers to properly dispose of their trash during holiday celebrations, educating the community about pollution prevention through our “Don’t Forget” media campaign, increasing recycling, and educating people planning to visit the beaches about the rules and regulations at local beaches.
Enjoy your bash, but can your trash!
This Fourth of July, hundreds of thousands of San Diegans and tourists alike will flock to the beaches and bays for some fun in the sun over their holiday weekend. The CBC would like to ask all of you beach-lovers to pick up after yourselves so that we all can keep San Diego’s famous coastline pristine and beautiful for the rest of the summer and years to come. As part of the SDCBC objectives, the partners are working together to place additional public trash and recycling receptacles along Pacific, Mission, and Ocean beaches, as well as Mission Bay, over the holiday weekend. By always throwing your trash in a nearby trashcan, or bringing your own trash bag with you to the beach, you are respecting the shoreline and San Diego as a whole. If you forget a trash bag, the SDCBC can provide one for you. Just stop by the nearest lifeguard tower for trash bags. Whether you swim, surf, sunbathe, or bbq, keep the beaches you love clean and healthy to preserve your San Diego lifestyle all summer long!
Due to the sheer volume of people and the trash that comes along with everyone at the beach, trash cans often overflow quickly, giving everyone an excuse not to pick up any of their waste. This leads to a stadium mentality, where everyone throws their trash on the ground, thinking it will be someone else’s responsibility. In addition, traditionally beaches do not have recycling available for plastic bottles, cans, or glass causing all of these items to be wasted in a trash can. Recycling is extremely important, as it saves natural resources including plastics made from oil, and additionally saves space in our already over-crowded landfills.
Please look for the large trash AND recycling receptacles that will be placed on the sand, giving you the means to protect our beaches here in San Diego. Having adequate means to avoid a mess will give everyone a quick and painless way to avoid littering this Fourth of July weekend. Help the SDCBC change this trashed beaches trend, and show that San Diegans care for their beaches too much to spoil them in one weekend.
Volunteer at the Beach over the Holiday Weekend!
If you would like to go above and beyond as a stellar environmental steward, you can join in for the “Morning-After Mess” from 8 -11 AM on Saturday July 5th to help restore the beaches back to their natural state. Volunteers will canvass the coastline to remove litter that careless beachgoers left behind. Improve the health of our marine ecosystems significantly by donating just one morning beautifying your world famous beaches. Visit www.surfridersd.org for more details on how you can volunteer at one of the six cleanup sites.
You can also extend your holiday weekend by coming out on Monday July 7th for a cleanup at Belmont Park in Mission Beach. We guarantee there will be lots to do, which is why we need lots of volunteers for this cleanup effort from 9am – 12noon. We will provide all the necessary supplies for the event, all you need to do is show up ready to work! Check out the I Love A Clean San Diego website, www.cleansd.org for more information.