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Community Corner

Coastal Clean-Up Yields Everything From Cans to Hypodermic Needles

Armed with nothing more than their gloved hands and a grabbing tool, volunteers collected tons of trash.

On Saturday, September 17,  thousands of Southern California residents participated in the Coastal Clean-Up Day at over sixty locations.  Not all of these people were at the beach.  Many will be cleaning up their favorite lake, stream or pond.  Armed with nothing more than their gloved hands and a grabbing tool, volunteers collected tons of trash.  This was the 22nd year the event has taken place.

Paul Working, of Catch-22, is manning a booth at Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach.  Working has participated in the Clean-Up for the past 7 years, and looks forward to the event every year. "We've collected over 7 tons of trash on average, each year.  So far today,  we've collected everything from cans and plastic bottle to a hypodermic needle."

The first Coastal Clean Up was organized in October 1984 by Oregonian Judie Neilson who organized 2,800 volunteers.  One year later, the concept had spread down to California where the California Coastal Commission ran the event in 1985 with 2,500 participants. 
Volunteers range in age from the very young to the more mature volunteers.  Heal the Bay took over the organization of the Clean Up Days in 1990.  

Larry Moore from Fish Talk Radio with Philip Friedman Outdoors said it was a good day. "It's just good to be out here helping," said Moore. "I'm just hoping we can do this kind of thing every weekend as opposed to every year."

For information regarding this or other clean-up events, please contact the California Coastal Commission at 1-800  5744

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