At Hendry’s Beach near Santa Barbara, 16-year-old Pyp Pratt says he’s been picking up trash at weekly clean-ups since he was just 9.
"This is where it all started!" Pratt exclaimed.
And for all those years, he's been seeing a trend.
"We tend to see tons of microplastics and cigarette butts. That's the main trash that we collect here," Pratt said.
According to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine pollution.
Jill Cloutier with Explore Ecology says more than 13,000 pounds of trash was collected during beach clean-ups at Hendry’s Beach last year.
"Pyp is just really an amazing human who has turned his care for nature into life-changing action," Cloutier said.
She says Pratt is the youngest coastal clean-up site captain in the state overseeing Butterfly Beach, another Central Coast location that sees a lot of trash.
"For a coastal cleanup day at Butterfly Beach, we usually collect about 70 pounds of trash on average every year," Pratt said.
A 2020 study by Science Direct found 60% of fish globally contained microplastics.
"They tend to start out on the land and end up in the ocean, and as they make their way into the animals' bodies, especially fish, and the fish tend to end up on our plates," Pratt said.
Explore Ecology says three tons of litter was removed from Santa Barbara County beaches in 2024.
"Honestly, it just starts with your lifestyle. I think that if we limit the amount of single-use plastics and change our habits, this can lead to less detrimental effects on the environment," Pratt said.
Explore Ecology's next beach clean-up is on Feb. 9 at Arroyo Burro Beach.
