A Record Turnout For CCD 2010

09.25.2010 | Heal the Bay

Coastal Cleanup DayNews

More Than 14,000 Volunteers Removed 50 Tons of Trash on Coastal Cleanup Day.

On September 25, 2010 from 9am to noon, 14,131 volunteers picked up 115,742 pounds of trash at 65 cleanup sites in L.A County as part of Heal the Bay’s
21st annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Braving the heat on the unusually hot
day, participants from families, local businesses, city crews,
faith-based organizations, schools and youth sports team worked
together to gather and remove the ocean-bound trash from
local watersheds.

CCD 2010 Results

  • 14,131 volunteers
  • 115,742 lbs. of trash
  • 65 cleanup sites
  • 101 miles cleaned

More About CCD 2010

Learn About Pollution

Cleanups Year-Round

The 65 sites spanned the entire county from Tujunga to Long Beach, and Compton to Malibu. Cleanup locations included beaches, inland waterways, parks and neighborhoods. Coastal Cleanup Day even hit the water as SCUBA dive teams cleaned under the Santa Monica and Redondo Beach piers, while kayakers removed trash from Marina del Rey.

Coastal Cleanup Day 2010 was a record-breaking day of action that made an immediate impact on our oceans. But its lasting impact is teaching people what they can do in their daily lives throughout the year to combat neighborhood blight and beach pollution.

Heal the Bay offers a variety of cleanups throughout the year for anyone to get involved at anytime.

Photos of CCD 2010

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Coast Cleanup Day Targets Urban Runoff

Urban runoff from more than 200 storm drains flowing out to Santa Monica and San Pedro bays causes most of our local ocean pollution. By removing trash from beaches and inland neighborhoods, cleanup volunteers protect marine animals, enhance quality of life, and bolster the regional economy.

“Code Red” locations that received special attention this year included Dominguez Channel, Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, the Los Angeles River and Encino’s Haskell Creek. These urban sites drain runoff from huge areas of Los Angeles County and are overwhelmed by litter such as plastic trash and fast-food packaging.

Heal the Bay’s CCD events have collected a cumulative 1.57 million pounds of trash since 1990. Cigarette butts, plastic bottle caps and Styrofoam fragments are the most frequently found items at cleanups. Heal the Bay tracks what is collected at cleanups in our Marine Debris Database.

Unusual Items Found

Among the unusual items found this year:

  • Three bowling balls cut in half, in Coyote Creek Trail (Cerritos)
  • A vibrator discovered in Lake Machado (Ken Malloy Regional Park)
  • Goatskin hide and mummified cat (Tujunga Wash)
  • A submerged gas-burning stove (Redondo Pier dive site)
  • Several crack pipes (Santa Monica, Venice and Malibu)
  • Floating bag of marshmallows (Marina del Rey kayak site)

Special 3rd Party Events

Coastal Cleanup Day sponsor Subaru hosted special test drive and sweepstakes events throughout the county to benefit Heal the Bay and raise awareness about the cleanup. Among other unique CCD-related special events: Give Back to the Beach – a food truck festival in Marina del Rey, the LA Craft Beer Crawl curated by food critic Jonathan Gold in downtown L.A., as well as a sunrise yoga session in Santa Monica, and three electronic waste drop-off/recycling collection sites run by Coastal e-Waste.

Sponsors

This year’s sponsors include Union Bank of California, the Grousbeck Foundation, KTLA5, the city of Santa Monica, Neutrogena, ClifBar and Subaru.

About Coastal Cleanup Day

Heal the Bay organizes Coastal Cleanup Day in Los Angeles County in partnership with the California Coastal Commission. However, Coastal Cleanup Day is actually a global event led by the Ocean Conservancy for 6 million volunteers in 90 countries and all U.S. states. The day has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s biggest 24-hour volunteer event.