California Coastal Cleanup Day includes Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach. Two groups, Orange County Coastkeeper and Trail 4 All have a combined 40 cleanup sites in Orange County.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Katie Peck’s giant cigarette seagull is on display as hundreds of people participate in the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
SoundThe gallery will resume insecondsA whale cut into a piece of carpet by artist Katie Peck is on display as well as an explanation on how microfibers affect the water during California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Hundreds of people participate in the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Large surf accompanies the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Volunteer Rami Chamtieh, 3, picks up trash during the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Volunteers look for trash during the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Rachelle Paca puts some gloves on Kate Sanciangco, 2, during the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Katie Peck, left, and Katie Nichols display the natural things, not man made, like kelp that they don’t count in the cleanup during California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Over 200 pounds of trash were weighed during the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Katie Peck helps throw away over 200 pounds of trash as her cigarette seagull art soars in the background during the California Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, September 15, 2018 in Huntington Beach.
(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Maria Raine and her daughter Ellie spot a piece of trash along a fence line of the Oso Creek Trail in Mission Viejo. More than 250 people collected litter and debris during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Maria Raine holds the hand of her daughter, Ellie, as she picks up a piece of trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Maria Raine holds onto the hand of her daughter Ellie as she jumps off a fence. Ellie had just picked up a piece of trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Gwendolyn Pierce, 6, finds a piece of trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
Gwendolyn Pierce, 6, looks for trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
A group from the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim and dive team was part of a group of more than 250 people who cleaned up trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
A group from the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim and dive team was part of a group of more than 250 people who cleaned up trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
A group from the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim and dive team was part of a group of more than 250 people who cleaned up trash along Oso Creek during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
A member of the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim team shows off a worm he found while cleaning up trash along Oso Creek during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
A group from the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim and dive team was part of a group of more than 250 people who cleaned up trash along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
More than 250 people collected litter and debris along the Oso Creek Trail during Inner-Coastal Clean-Up Day on Saturday, September 15. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)
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They came out in force on Saturday with a mission: make beaches, lakes, parks, rivers and waterways pristine, the way they are meant to be.
Thousands of volunteers showed up around the state for California Coastal Cleanup Day, an organized effort that happens each year to help pluck litter and debris from the shores and beyond.
Organized by the Coastal Commission, California Coastal Cleanup Day first happened in 1985, when about 2,500 volunteers showed up to get their hands dirty.
Since then, the event has steadily spread inland, as more people become educated about how street trash and urban litter travels down storm drains to beaches. In Mission Viejo, volunteers worked on Saturday to clear trash from Oso Creek, just one of many inland clean-up campaigns.
California Coastal Cleanup Day in 1993 was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “largest garbage collection,” with 50,405 volunteers.
“It’s an opportunity for the community to demonstrate its desire for clean water and healthy marine life,” the commission’s website says. “And it’s a moment to share with one’s neighbors, family, and friends, coming together to accomplish something vital and worthy on behalf of our environment.”
In Orange County, tens of thousands of pounds are picked up each year, though exact figures on this year’s totals are still being counted.
Artist Katie Peck unveiled a unique albatross sculpture made of an estimated 1,500 cigarette butts in Huntington Beach during an Orange County Coastkeeper event.
It’s the second year she’s made art out of trash for the event, last year displaying a big blue wave made of junk.
Cigarette butts top the list of items picked up during beach clean ups.
From 1988 to 2016, an estimated 7.3 million butts were picked up, making up about 35 percent of the trash found over the years. In second place were food wrappers and containers — 2 million picked up, about 10 percent of the total.
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Source: OC Register
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