San Diego Clean Beach Coalition

San Diego, CA – As the Fourth of July holiday weekend draws near, the San Diego Clean Beach Coalition (CBC) is poised to prevent the pollution problem that plagues area beaches during major summer holidays. The Coalition has raised close to $15,000 from local businesses and government agencies to support the purchase and placement of 110 temporary trash and 90 recycle bins for the Independence Day and Labor Day holidays. Look for these temporary cardboard bins on the sand in the areas of Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Bay Park, and Pacific Beach.

This year the Clean Beach Coalition encourages awareness about individuals’ ability to reduce their waste. Each person has the capacity to anticipate the trash they will create in their day and act prudently to prevent that trash from ending up on the beach and in the ocean. The CBC has provided a list of suggestions for what to bring to the beach as well as what not to bring, in order to make it easier to enjoy the holiday without the guilt and mess of trash littering the coastline. Based on combined beach cleanup data, the CBC advises to avoid Styrofoam, single use plastics cups/bottles, and heavily plastic-packaged goods. The CBC also suggests that beachgoers bring reusable bottles that can be refilled at water fountains, pack lunch in Tupperware within a durable, reusable cooler, and if you need a trash bag, borrow one from a less eco-minded neighbor who packed their party in plastic. It’s important to spread the knowledge about why your patriotic celebration is plastic-free; this step is a worthy investment in the future of local environment. While the Coalition’s focus is on preventing the mess, it also sponsors the annual July 5 “Morning After Mess” cleanup. See http://sandiego.surfrider.org/the-morning-after-mess for details and to find out how to help.

The Clean Beach Coalition, which consists of local environmental organizations, community groups, and government agencies, has come together for the fourth consecutive year to raise awareness of and prevent beach litter issues. CBC member agencies include: FreePB.org, I Love A Clean San Diego, San Diego Coastkeeper, the San Diego Chapter of Surfrider Foundation as well as the City of San Diego Parks & Recreation Department. This year’s efforts would not be possible without the support of generous sponsors, including title sponsor Pacific Beach Shore Club and others including Woodstock’s Pizza, Lahaina Beach House, Verant Group, Allied Waste Services, Mission Beach Town Council, SDG&E, Vavi Sport and Social Club, Mission Beach Woman’s Club, City of San Diego District 2 and San Diego Coaster Company.

Show your patriotism this 4th of July by respecting the land upon which you celebrate! Despite the beach alcohol ban imposed in January 2008, the type of trash has changed, but not the amount. Based on our beach cleanup data, we have identified a few items that lead to the most beach trash and thought up easy replacements for you AND THE BEACH to have a good time.

What NOT to bring:
-Styrofoam: I know that cooler is super cheap, but Styrofoam is one of our top finds in our beach cleanups. It breaks up into tiny little pieces and flies into storm drains, bushes, the ocean, etc. It is not only unsightly and difficult to pick up, but it poses a threat to wildlife who mistake it for food. San Diego does not recycle Styrofoam, and Styrofoam is estimated to take over 500 years to biodegrade. Thus, every piece you ever use will be around for the next 5 generations of your own family!

-Plastic bottles: It may seem easy and convenient to bring your Sprite and Coke in those small individual plastic bottles, but try to opt for metal cans that are more cost-effective recyclables. Plastic is one of our Top Three Beach Trash items found in huge quantities at our cleanups and like Styrofoam, takes at least 500 years to biodegrade.

-Cigarettes: We collected 42,525 cigarette butts off the beach in 2010 and it has been illegal to smoke on San Diego beaches since 2006! If you must smoke, at least be responsible and get your butt in the trash can.

-Plastic Bags: These are so lightweight they will be out of your sight and into the sea in no time.

-Plastic-wrapped food: Try to avoid things that are heavily packaged in what will become trash! You won’t want to deal with it during your celebration, nor will the other patriots when it flies into their “O, Say Can You See”-singing mouths.

What to bring:
-Reusable Cooler: This will be a good way to haul out trash once the beverages are gone!

-Tupperware: Pack sandwiches and pasta salad and other homemade goodies in Tupperware, then you can just stack and wash them later.

-Reusable water bottle: Buy your water/beverages in bulk and then you can refill your bottle throughout the day.

-Reusable bag: Pack it in, Pack it out!

-Trash bags: If you are going to create trash, be prepared and have a place to stash it. It is likely someone didn’t bring their own bag and they trekked in tons of plastic bags. Ask around, make friends and you could reuse a plastic bag from another beach go-er. You can always reuse an empty chip bag for a trash bag; get creative!

-Finger Food and Napkins: Plastic utensils are not recyclable; what a waste of our precious non-renewable resources! Bring food that doesn’t require silverware. If you’re dead-set on coleslaw, bring chop sticks. You can always bring silverware from home and toss it back in the cooler with the Tupperware at the end of the day. Just make sure to have friends over the next day to help with the dishes.

Thank you for taking the time and care to reduce the amount of trash we create on our Nation’s Independence Day! It is a time to respect out history, our progress, and yes, to party with friends. It is not too much to ask to plan ahead and take responsibility for the trash you create at your own celebration.

If you’ve ever been to Pacific Beach, chances are that you’ve probably been to Pacific Beach Shore Club at least once. It’s a landmark situated right on the boardwalk with cheap beer and killer sunsets. But what you probably don’t know is that PB Shore Club is committed to the community. Since the Clean Beach Coalition started its temporary bin program, PB Shore Club has always donated money to the cause. But this year, they took it a step further. The Clean Beach Coalition is proud to announce that Pacific Beach Shore Club is the title sponsor of this year’s Clean Beach Coalition bin program. Their donation will help us to purchase more than 200 temporary trash and recycle bins that Parks & Recreation will place on the beach for Independence Day and Labor Day weekends.

Thanks PB Shore Club for your commitment to keeping our beaches FREE FROM TRASH!