|
Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5736 Teams of volunteers joined together to scour beaches, dunes, and shorelines in Ventura County as part of the state's largest volunteer effort to celebrate the 30th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. 212 volunteers collected nearly 500 pounds of trash and over 100 pounds of recyclables at the event in Ventura Harbor hosted by Channel Islands National Park and the Channel Islands National Park Foundation on Saturday, September 20, 2014.
Several companies and schools participated including Amgen, REI, Disney Store, Bank of America, California State University Channel Islands, Ojai Valley School, and Pacifica High School.
This year there were over 20 cleanup events sponsored throughout Ventura County with 2,785 people participating. Preliminary results show they covered nearly 38 miles of coastline collecting 7,290 pounds of trash and 1,174 pounds of recyclables.
The California Coastal Commission sponsors this annual community event. Event statistics show 54,124 volunteers cleaned up 576,571 pounds of trash and 109,494 pounds of recyclable materials for a total of 343 tons. Approximately 75 percent of the 800 sites that participated statewide have reported their results.
Studies of marine and coastal debris indicate that between 60-80 percent of the trash found on our shorelines comes from single-use disposable plastic items that travel to the coast and ocean via storm drains, creeks and rivers.
To learn about how to reduce your impact on our marine environment and be an ocean steward please visit the California Coastal Commission website and take the stewardship pledge: http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/steward/pledge_form.html
|
Last updated: February 28, 2015