Trash Picking for a Good Cause

Beach goers sifted through sand, not in search of buried treasure or to build the ultimate sand castle. They were searching for garbage.

Senior Communications major Troy Doolittle held his “Save the Beach” event at Bolsa Chica beach on April 26. And I was there, ready to dig my hands into the sand and pick up all the trash I could find.

Ah, California beaches: The warm sand, surfing, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach shopping. It’s what out-of-staters dream about. But some Southern California beaches have become trashed with litter and tar. It’s well-known that Southern California is home to some pretty dirty beaches.

My friend Jessica Cordova, 24, a Cal State Fullerton graduate came with me. We both have a love for the environment and a beach clean up was just how we wanted to spend our day on a scorching hot Saturday. With our lime green bags in hand Jessica and I set out to clean up the beach.

We found all the regulars: plastic forks, the dreaded plastic bags, straws, wire hangers, cigarette butts, and other garbage. But then we started finding other things: the head of a microphone possibly from a karaoke machine, rusted nails, and a syringe that missing its needle. That was the most surprising.

“Oh, I thought that was an urban legend,” Cordova said.

We got quite a work out at the beach picking up trash at every step we took. There were shoe parts, bottle caps and tops, cans and wrappers. It was like confetti spread all across the beach.

“I didn’t expect to find fragments of whole pieces,” Cordova said. “I bet a lot of stuff is buried.”

After two and a half hours of walking on sand and bending over I felt like I got my exercise for the week. Then it was time for lunch. Hotdogs, chips and chocolate chip cookies was a nice reward for picking up so much trash. As we tossed our bags into the pile of other trash bags, we felt happy just to sit down. Saving baby seals from soda tops and microphones isn’t easy, but it was well worth the workout.

There was also a raffle for fun beach prizes: a tiger shark kite, a skim board, surf shop t-shirts and a body suit.

“It seemed well organized. They had supplies, food and a raffle. It seemed they put a lot of thought,” said Cordova, who won a shirt.

While the food and prizes made the cleanup fun, the amount of trash we compiled was shocking.

“Considering how early it was in the year, it seemed pretty bad,” Cordova said. “Summertime is going to be way worse.”

She’s right. In September 2007, The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to fine several cities neighboring the Santa Monica Bay in hope encouraging them to clean up the beach. These cities could be fined up to $10,000 a day if the water tested did not reach water standards.

MSNBC published a similar story in August 2006, “EPA sued over beach pollution.” This time it was the EPA that was being sued by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmentalist group, alleging that the “Environmental Protection Agency failed to protect the public.” The NRDC made me a list of beaches that did not meet public health standards. Of the 11 states listed, California had the most beaches in violation: nine, including six in Orange County.

Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental organization, has monthly “Nothin’ But Sand Beach Cleanups.” Volunteers can help clean Santa Monica Bay beaches. The cleanups are every third Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon at various beaches across Los Angeles County. The next Beach Cleanup is on May 17 at Venice Beach at Rose Ave. No volunteer application is needed.

For more information on beach cleanups, visit, www.healthebay.org.