by Julia Brown

(excerpt from RWC Pulse)

"Nearly 40 years ago, the California Coastal Commission organized its inaugural statewide cleanup, an effort that drew close to 2,500 volunteers. Fast forward to 2024 and the 40th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day is expected to include more than 50,000 Californians, making it the country’s largest annual volunteer event. In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized it as the “largest garbage collection” ever organized.

"Since 1985, more than 1.7 million Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers have removed nearly 27 million pounds of trash from California’s waterways, according to Coastal Commission data. A push since the mid ’90s to expand the event inland has led to participation from every county in the state except Trinity County. Last year, 45,672 volunteers statewide collected 376,308 pounds of debris.

"As the state marks Coastal Cleanup Day’s milestone anniversary this Saturday, Sept. 21, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties are gearing up for cleanups of local beaches, creeks and shoreline areas, with several sites already at capacity for volunteers...

"In San Mateo County, the number of Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers and the amount of trash picked up has grown: In 2005, 970 volunteers collected 14,600 pounds of trash, and in 2023, 4,146 people removed 27,000 pounds of debris."