SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish by weight in the world’s oceans if we don’t defend our waterways from litter. That is why CBS 8 partnered with I Love a Clean San Diego for the 40th annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 21 at over 100 cleanup sites throughout the County, removing litter and debris in our community.
Volunteers across San Diego County collected more than 104,000 pounds of litter and debris on Coastal Cleanup Day in 2024.
"For 40 years we've been doing this cleanup, and for 40 years we've been pulling 100,000 pounds of trash in San Diego County. Litter is the problem that I think is unfortunately going to be here to stay," AnnMarie Sack with I Love a Clean San Diego said.
Volunteers at Liberty Station NTC Park picked up litter that could've made its way to the bay and ended up in the ocean.
"The litter that ends up in the ocean that's harmful to our marine life, it all starts inland," I Love a Clean San Diego Executive Director Steve Morris said. "About 85% of it comes from inland parks, canyons, your neighborhood, because all of our storm drains flow into the ocean."
More than 3,000 volunteers in San Diego County, and thousands more from 150 other countries, collected trash to be entered into a global database on marine debris.
"So the volunteers here are contributing to this massive global database that policy advisers and other planners can use to make decisions on things like the plastic bag ban and things like that that can really impact the environment," Morris said.
Future I Love a Clean San Diego cleanup events can be found here.
2023 Event recap
Thousands of volunteers helped clean up our local ecosystems on Saturday, September 23 for the 2023 Coastal Cleanup Day. San Diegans were out along our beaches for a major cleanup day. Crews picked up bins, bags, and trash grabbers and then got to work.
Volunteers gathered at more than 100 cleanup sites all over San Diego, from Fallbrook all the way to San Ysidro.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to give back, it helps everyone,” Volunteer Jack Dority said.
'I Love a Clean San Diego' hosted a cleanup site for Coastal Cleanup Day in Imperial Beach. Organizations, families, and service members all came together with the same mission.
“We need to keep our environment clean, it's not just for our generation but for the next generation too,” Volunteer Lynn Lam said.
For our military, having clean beaches is crucial.
“Me being a navy diver, it's very important to me to keep our ocean clean especially because we're in it, you know every single day diving under boats and don't want to see trash floating by us,” NDC(Sel) Navy Diver, Chase McCain said.
The event also serves as an opportunity for the community to see the reality of how much litter is in our oceans.
“I think it would make you think twice about throwing stuff away and reusing your plastic or not even getting plastic,” Volunteer Angela Huftill said.
Taking care of our ecosystems is not only once a year, the community can participate year-round.
"Simple things like recycling properly, learning opportunities through our workshop or webinars, cleansd.org has a wealth of information and resources," I love a Clean San Diego Director of Marketing and Communications, Edwin Mendoza said.
As of Saturday afternoon, more than 76,800 pounds of litter and debris had been removed from San Diego communities. For more information on ways to help visit cleansd.org
2022 Event recap
CBS 8 joined I Love a Clean San Diego for the 38th annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 17.
Coastal Cleanup Day is the County’s largest environmental clean-up effort and San Diegans can volunteer at close to 70 sites across the County so no matter where you live, there’s one by you.
Since the coastal cleanup started 37 years ago, organizers say more than 273,000 volunteers county-wide collected more than 5.5 million pounds of litter and debris.
For more information on how you can register to make a difference, go to https://cleanupday.org/
2021 Event recap
During the 37th annual Coastal Cleanup Day in 2021, over 2,400 volunteers grabbed their buckets and gloves to help protect and preserve their neighborhoods.
WATCH: 36th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day goes virtual