Around 30 people volunteered their time to clean up trash on and around Morro Rock Beach after the Fourth of July.
“After the Fourth of July, there’s usually a lot of things to pick up,” said Diane Borgatti, Morro Bay resident.
The event was hosted by the Morro Bay National Estuary Program.
“Every year we do a July 4 cleanup so after people come out here and recreate and enjoy our beaches they can also give back and clean up all the accumulated trash,” said Riley Hine, Morro Bay National Estuary Program Community Engagement Projects Manager.
Volunteers arrived just before 10 a.m. and began cleaning up debris and litter that could otherwise make its way into the estuary, bay and ocean after the Fourth of July celebrations.
“It’s for the marine life and birds. They get plastic around them and kills them, so we want to keep our estuary and bay clean,” Borgatti said.
Borgatti says there are some common items she has picked up at the beach.
“Cans, paper, cigarette butts, and things like that,” she said.
“Cigarette butts are definitely the number one item found on beaches worldwide and trash containers as well,” Hine added.
After the Fourth, Hine says people also typically find pieces of fireworks and sparklers.
The cleanup was open to all community members and organizers provided the supplies.
Assemblymember Dawn Addis was among the volunteers.
“We raised our kids at this beach so it's very important to keep it clean and for everybody to be safe and use it and have all the wildlife here be able to experience a clean beach,” Addis said.
Hine says not only can trash end up in the ocean but also the estuary.
“Which is a nursery for small animals, mammals, birds and fish," Hine explained. We’re a really important stopover on the Pacific flyaway.”
By the end of the cleanup, volunteers had collected a total of 14.4 pounds of trash.
The Morro Bay National Estuary Program says the Fourth of July holiday is when they tend to see the most trash on the beach.
