Sonoma County gearing up for 30th annual Coastal Cleanup Day

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Information about Bodega Dunes Cleanup
If this year is anything like last, more than 11,000 pounds of trash await volunteers heading out to Sonoma County beaches and streams on Saturday for the 30th annual Coastal Cleanup Day.
Hundreds of people commonly take part in the local pollution patrol — part of a statewide force 58,000 strong — though sign-ups for the Sonoma County event appear to be slightly behind where they usually are at this point, one organizer said.
More than 600 people participated in Sonoma County last year, collecting 11,162 pounds of refuse, 672 pounds of it recyclable, said Una Glass, executive director of Coastwalk California, which leads the local effort. Statewide, the 2013 cleanup netted 749,323 pounds of debris, including more than 75,000 pounds of recyclable materials, Glass said.
Coastal beaches and inland streams are rife with stuff left behind by humans or washed down from points upstream, all of it bound eventually for the Pacific if not intercepted. The yearly cleanup prevents its migration into the ocean, where garbage poses an extreme threat to marine wildlife.
Glass said she hoped a ban on plastic bags that recently went into effect in Sonoma County has an impact on what’s collected over the next few years.
via Sonoma County gearing up for 30th annual Coastal | The Press Democrat.