California Coastal Cleanup 2020 collects 98,100 pounds of trash and recycling
January 12, 2021
SACRAMENTO—California’s largest annual volunteer event adopted a very different model in 2020 but still removed 98,100 pounds of trash across the coast according numbers recently released. Due to covid-19 and the need to keep volunteers safe, the traditional California Coastal Cleanup Day transformed into California Coastal Cleanup Month. More than 13,000 volunteers participated, cleaning up 4,000 miles of coastline throughout the month of September 2020, according to the CA State Parks and CA Coastal Commission 2020 winter Clean Boating Newsletter.
“The boating community demonstrated its continued commitment to keeping our shorelines and waterways clean, as 335 volunteers and 29 vessels from 27 boating facilities and boating groups participated in the event,” the newsletter said. “This community effort removed more than 3,930 pounds of trash and recyclables.”
Top 10 items from Coastal Cleanup 2020
- Cigarette butts: 71,721
- Food wrappers: 36,403
- Plastic bottle caps: 13,746
- Plastic grocery bags: 9,488
- Metal bottle caps: 9,100
- Plastic bottles: 10,692
- Straws and stirrers: 7,972
- Beverage cans: 7,778
- Plastic takeout containers: 7,662
- Glass bottles: 7,006
