Surfrider hosts hundreds of beach cleanups nationwide every year. These cleanups are great for the environment and great for volunteers that can earn community service credit and make new friends. Picking up litter from the beach and nearby areas is important because it's ugly and can impact wildlife that we love. Surfrider collects data from cleanups to identify the top sources of litter and find solutions to prevent litter at the source. Over Earth Day weekend Surfrider Chapters in Southern California hosted 9 beach cleanups with 1,394 volunteers that picked up 4,524 pounds of litter off the beach. (Top Photo Credit: LA Video Drone / Surfrider Huntington Beach / Seal Beach)
This past weekend a couple of Southern California chapters hosted record-setting cleanups. In Huntington Beach on Friday, Surfrider teamed up with Vans where 142 volunteers collected a whopping 1,240 lbs. of trash & debris from the beach at Bolsa Chica by Tower 16 and along the HB harbor! The cleanup collection was a record for the past five years and completed in just two hours compared to their weekend four hour cleanups. Click Here for photos. On Saturday the Surfrider Huntington Beach/Seal Beach Chapter hosted another cleanup with LA Video Drone and Volcom. 271 volunteers joined Surfrider at the Santa Ana River Jetty to celebrate our environment and collected 359 lbs. of trash along the coast including 2 lbs. of styrofoam! Click Here for photos.
(Photo Credit: Surfrider Huntington Beach / Seal Beach)
The Surfrider Ventura County Chapter also hosted a record-setting cleanup at Surfers' Point on Saturday. 296 volunteers was a record attendance for any Surfrider cleanup in Ventura and 805 pounds of litter collected is a record for Surfers' Point. Included in that total are 5,000+ cigarette butts that were collected by volunteers. Click Here for photos.
Other Surfrider beach cleanups in Southern California over the weekend included:
Venice Beach with the Surfrider West LA/Malibu Chapter and longtime supporters Aveda. 75 people volunteered and collected 150 lbs of litter!
(Photo Credit: Amy Sullivan / Surfrider West LA / Malibu)
Salt Creek with the Surfrider South Orange County Chapter and Vans. 60 people volunteered and collected 40 lbs of litter - mainly microplastics.
(Photo Credit: Rick Erkeneff / Surfrider South OC)
Long Beach with the Surfrider Long Beach Chapter, Alamitos Beach Cleanup and Aveda. 97 people volunteered and picked up 50 bags of litter in one hour.
(Photo Credit: Vanessa Hurtado / Alamitos Beach Cleanup)
San Diego Chapter with I love A Clean San Diego's Creek to Bay cleanup at Ocean Beach. 163 volunteers picked up over 130 pounds of litter. After the cleanup it was the Earth Day Celebratory launch of CoastWise Session IPA, our collaboration beer with Coronado Brewing Company.
Newport Beach Chapter with Vans on Friday April 21 at Santa Ana River Jetties. 125 volunteers picked up 600 pounds of litter. On April 22 the Newport Beach Chapter hosted a cleanup in the Santa Ana Flood Control Channel just south of the 405 freeway, partnering with the Orange County Public Works Operations. There were 165 volunteers who hauled out 11 shopping carts, 2 tires and approximately 1100 pounds of trash.
Click Here to get involved with your local Surfrider Foundation Chapter!