What is Coastal Clean-up Day?

California Coastal Cleanup Day, sponsored by the California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market, is the premier volunteer event focused on the marine environment in the world.

Since the program started in 1985, nearly 700,000 Californians have removed more than 10 million pounds of debris from our state's shorelines and coast. When combined with the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by The Ocean Conservancy that takes place on the same day, California Coastal Cleanup Day becomes part of one of the largest volunteer events of the year.

In 2006, a total of 358,617 volunteers pitched in with their precious time and effort to help us clean 34,560 miles of shoreline of some seven million pounds of trash.

And thanks to you, California had over 56,000 volunteers and picked up almost 1 million pounds, making us #1 worldwide in participation and litter collected. 

California's "Top Ten" Debris Items
1985-2006	Totals
1. Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters	4,281,104
2. Caps, Lids	954,882
3. Food Wrappers and Containers	947,218
4. Plastic Bags	846,320
5. Cups, Plates, Forks, Knives, Spoons	706,531
6. Straws/Stirrers	455,796
7. Glass Beverage Bottles	367,448
8. Plastic Beverage Bottles	306,067
9. Beverage Cans	274,608
10. Building Materials	234,954

*California Stormwater Quality Association Award for Outstanding Stormwater News, Information, Outreach and Media

CASQA presented its 2007 stormwater awards at its 3rd Annual Stormwater Conference awards luncheon Tuesday, September 11, 2007 at the Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa.  The CASQA awards program identifies and recognizes exemplary leadership, outstanding projects, activities and contributors in the field of stormwater quality management.

"These projects embody the California Stormwater Quality Association's goals to advance stormwater quality management, science and regulation.  We are recognizing these projects because of their success, innovation and dedication to the improvement of stormwater quality in California," said Jeff Endicott, member of the Board of Directors and Awards Committee Chair.

The Outstanding Stormwater News, Information, Outreach and Media Award was presented to San Mateo County Water Pollution Prevention Program for Coastal Cleanup Day 2006.  SMCWPPP implemented a community outreach plan in which it educated residents about disposable plastic bag consumption and its effects, and distributed 3,000 reusable shopping bags.  SMCWPPP also used this outreach to further publicize Cleanup Day 2006, which experienced an increase in volunteer efforts by 60 percent due to its promotion prior to cleanup day.

Other award recipients received recognition for excellence in these categories:
www.stormwaterconference.com/2007

*          The Treatment Control/Structural BMP Implementation Award was presented to the City of Santa Monica for its Westside Water Quality Improvement project, which is a two-stage dry and wet weather runoff treatment facility that removes both gross and soluble pollutants. 
*          The Source Control/Programmatic BMP Implementation Award was presented to the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department for its commercial/industrial stormwater compliance program, which promotes consistency in education, enforcement and reporting throughout the region.
*          The Outstanding Stormwater Research Project Award was presented to the Irvine Ranch Water District for the Cienega Selenium and Nitrogen Treatment System Project, which examined the treatability of selenium-rich waters and succeeded in reducing pollutants that are usually difficult to address in urban runoff, such as selenium, nitrates and bacteria.

Articles:

Trashing the Ocean

Marine Debris - an Overview of a Critical Issue for Our Oceans

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