Community Corner

Tons of Trash Collected on San Diego Beaches, Waterways in 2010

In data collected by San Diego Coastkeeper and Surfrider, about 40,000 volunteers collected 635,000 pounds of garbage along San Diego beaches and local waterways last year.

San Diego Coastkeeper and Surfrider released Monday an evaluation of volunteer beach cleanups performed last year countywide.

Between the two organizations, WiLDCOAST, the Tijuana Estuary and other volunteer efforts, nearly 40,000 volunteers collected about 635,000 pounds of waste in San Diego waterways and beaches.

Cigarette butts, Styrofoam and plastics continue to be the top items recovered.

Interesting finds in 2010 included an electronic keyboard, a conveyor belt and a soup ladle.

Coaskeeper and Surfrider volunteers removed more than 70,000 pieces of plastic from San Diego area beaches and recovered pieces of Styrofoam have increased in three years from 10,000 to nearly 25,000.

Find out what's happening in Imperial Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Torrey Pines State Beach had the least amount of trash while Pacific Beach's Tourmaline Beach had the most in the analysis of Surfrider and Coastkeeper cleanups.

Imperial Beach shoreline cleanliness was average with others beaches around San Diego, with about 200 pounds of waste collected every year, said Alicia Glassco, director of San Diego Coastkeeper's Maritime Debris program.

Tidelands maintenance crews regularly help maintain the Seacoast Drive shoreline.

Things are much worse in the Tijuana Estuary and the Tijuana River waterways, she said, where sediment and different kinds of waste are washed from Mexico. 

Measuring cleanup in that area is very different, said WiLDCOAST project manager Paloma Aguirre.

In 2010, often with partners such as I Love a Clean San Diego, WiLDCOAST conducted 10 cleanups on both sides of the border in the river's watershed to remove more than 40 tons of waste and nearly 1,500 tires.

More than half that waste came from a single day cleanup at Los Laurales Canyon in Tijuana, Mexico.

"We find the most near sediment basins," Aguirre said. "It's one of the most highly impacted areas in the river valley."

Cleaning up the river valley is very different than cleaning the beach, she said.

Find out what's happening in Imperial Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's not only plastics but they have waste tires and some areas in Tijuana have clandestine dumping sites where construction companies may just come and dump heavy debris."

                  WiLDCOAST Cleanups 2010

Location Tons Volunteers Hours Los Laureles 21 30 5 Los Laureles 15 60 3 Border Field State Park 2.1 30 5 Los Laureles 1.5 60 4 Effie May Trail 0.75 91 3 Dairy Mart Road 0.5 32 3 Effie May Trail 0.5 60 3 Tijuana Sloughs 0.33 60 2 Dairy Mart Road 47 8 Dairy Mart Road 40 2



2011 Beach Cleanups

Click here for a complete list of San Diego Coastkeeper led cleanups in 2011.

Feb. 17

2 p.m.

Tijuana Sloughs

April 30

9 a.m.-noon

The Creek to Bay cleanup will spread volunteers out across 70 San Diego beaches and waterways. 

Meet at for beach cleanups in Imperial Beach and Playas de Tijuana just south of the border in Mexico. Partnering with Tijuana Calidad de Vida and I Love a Clean San Diego.

May 14

9 a.m.-noon

Dairy Mart Road bridge in the Tijuana River Valley. 

June  4

9 a.m.-noon

National Trails Day-Effie May’s Trail cleanup in the Tijuana River Valley Partnership with The Union of Pan Asian Communities

Sept. 17

9 a.m.-noon

Coastal Cleanup Day- Dairy Mart Road bridge, Tijuana River Valley

Partnership with San Diego Coastkeeper and Surfrider San Diego. Contact WiLDCOAST for details.

Sept. 24, Oct. 1, Oct. 8, Oct. 15

9 a.m.-noon

October is Tijuana River Action Month, full of a series of cleanups and stewardship activities coordinated by the Tijuana River Action Network.


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