What did you do on Monday? If you live near one of Santa Cruz’s beaches, chances are you were combing the sand and collecting several hundred pounds of garbage left behind from the Independence Day festivities. Within two hours volunteer cleanup crews with Save Our Shores and the Clean Oceans Project had collected as much as 300 pounds of garbage at Seabright Beach alone. Much of it was plastic, which would otherwise have ended up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But there were also remains of fireworks, which fish could easily mistake for kelp.
The good news is that Seabright Beach was cleaner than usual, thanks largely to the collection bags that volunteers handed out during the celebration. Other, less regulated, beaches fared less well. At Panther Beach, along the North Coast, volunteers collected 720 pounds of trash and recyclables, a significant part of the countywide haul of 2,750 pounds. A simple garbage bag can go a long way. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Loads of Trash on Beaches, Post-Fourth
Save Our Shores urges you to keep the beaches clean for mermaid life. Photo by Noelle Luchino.
