The 40th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day will be held on Saturday at nearly 25 sites around San Luis Obispo County.
Ahead of the rainy season, Caltrans is working with ECOSLO to make sure litter and other debris are removed from local waterways before the trash even gets to the ocean.
“When there’s trash at a park, as soon as it rains, it goes into the creeks and as soon as it's in the creek, it’s on its way to the ocean,” explained Heidi Crawford, Caltrans Public Information Officer.
During the summer, when people spend more time outside, waste is more likely to build up. Then, when the first heavy rain hits, it washes into the creeks, rivers, and oceans.
Grant Helete from the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo (ECOSLO) says this cleanup day is a way to get ahead of that.
“If we can remove smaller pieces, little things out like this so they don't break down further and further and create things like microplastics,” Helete said.
From parks to creeks and oceans, waste is everywhere.
“It’s destroying our ecosystem,” Crawford said.
The trash cleanup is part of a bigger effort.
“This is part of a statewide and global cleanup. We partner with the Ocean Conservancy on a global level and the California Coastal Commission on a statewide level to track all of the trash we clean up. All of that is tracked and that information is used to improve policy, to work to change policy to reduce litter and reduce the sources of litter in the first place,” Helete said.
Crawford hopes that small efforts can make big changes in the community.
“We can do our part to make sure we're cleaning it up so it doesn't go in there and help out our fish friends,” Crawford said.
To register for a cleanup event this weekend, click here.
Cleanup events are also planned across Santa Barbara County. Click here to sign up.
