The annual Coastal Cleanup day is a worldwide event to protect our waterways and marine wildlife from pollution. Most of the litter in our waterways is lightweight plastic – caps, bottles and bags make up three of the top five most commonly found objects on past clean up days. Plastic bags and other lightweight plastic litter don’t biodegrade and are particularly hazardous because they float, entangling and poisoning marine wildlife that mistakes the items for food.
You can do your part to address this by reducing the amount of plastics in your life, and participating in Coastal Cleanup Day, coming up on Saturday, September 21st. Last year, volunteers in Alameda County collected 46,000 pounds of litter! Join this year’s effort to meet or break that number. Many cities around the Bay have Coastal Cleanup Day activities planned. Here are some in Alameda County, or check Ocean Conservancy’s map to find one near you.
Albany
Albany Beach Cleanup
The Watershed Project
Berkeley
Berkeley Shoreline Cleanup
Emeryville
Coastal Cleanup
Oakland
Creek to Bay Day
[Photo by Port of San Diego on Flickr]
