Volunteers Can Help Save The Ocean During Berkeley's Coastal Cleanup Day

BERKELEY, CA — Residents interested in getting outdoors and doing some good for the environment are invited to take part in Berkeley’s Coastal Cleanup Day, Saturday, Sept. 17.

Volunteers will help cleanup local beaches, bays and waterways during the 38th annual event which begins at the Shorebird Park Nature Center at 9 a.m., city officials said in a news release.

The day will kick-off with a safety talk and distribution of supplies at the Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Avenue in Berkeley. Cleanup activities will take place along various areas of the Berkeley Waterfront as well as Aquatic Park, the release said.

In addition to cleaning up the area, volunteers will help to compile data about trash and marine debris for what organizers are calling “One of the largest research projects in the world.”

The news release said that buckets, bags, and gloves will be available for volunteers but are asking those who are able to help them reduce plastic waste by bringing their own supplies such as buckets or reusable bags, lightweight gardening gloves and a filled, reusable water bottle.

Those wishing to signup to volunteer for the event can preregister online, the city said, adding that all volunteers must complete a waiver and youth under the age of 18 must have a waiver completed by their legal guardian.

Organized groups such as student organizations, service clubs, local businesses and Scout Troops can also register online.

The event is expected to end by noon, organizers said.

The Berkeley Coastal Cleanup Day is part of the California Coastal Commission’s annual Coastal Cleanup Day event, an annual statewide event held in September each year, allowing volunteers to contribute to a cleaner, healthier coast.

According to the California Coastal Commission, the cleanup typically attracts 60-70,000 participants who gather at more than 1,000 sites to remove trash before the winter rains arrive and wash it out to the ocean, where it harms marine life and the ocean’s shared ecosystem.

Since it’s inception in 1985, more than 1.6 million volunteers have removed over 26 million pounds of trash from California’s outdoors, the California Coastal Commission said.

“In 1993, California Coastal Cleanup Day was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘largest garbage collection’ ever organized, with 50,405 volunteers,” the California Coastal Commission said. “Since then, the reach of Coastal Cleanup Day has steadily spread inland. Most of the marine debris that we find on our beaches actually starts as urban trash or street litter, so this continuing effort to ‘stop trash where it starts’ has actually increased the amount of trash picked up per person each year.”

For more information, call Shorebird Park Nature Center at (510) 981-6720 or send an email to naturecenter@cityofberkeley.info.