Morning After Mess Cleanup Day Recap and Press Release from Surfrider

Surfrider and Sun Diego Boardshop’s “Morning After Mess” Beach Cleanup Day reveals a cleaner beach this July 5th.

July 5, 2008 – San Diego

Increased awareness of litter issues, more trash and recycle bins on the beach, overcast weather and an alcohol ban all contributed to helping keep San Diego's beaches beautiful this July 4th.

Today over 1,000 volunteers at six cleanup sites picked up over 4,000 pounds of trash and 28,000 cigarette butts that were left behind from the Independence Day celebration. There was visibly much less litter on San Diego City beaches this year. Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter and Sun Diego Boardshops sponsored the 5th annual “Morning After Mess” cleanup day in order to cleanup litter before it becomes marine debris and raise awareness about the state of the beaches following the holiday. Beach cleanup sites included the OB Pier, Belmont Park in Mission Beach, PB Drive in Pacific Beach, 15th Street in Del Mar, South Carlsbad State Beach and the Oceanside Pier.

"I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at the beach this morning. In past years it looked like trash cans exploded but this year there was much less mess to deal with. The city workers did a great job while our volunteers focused on a minimal amount of trash along the tide line and a few streets and sidewalks that were pretty trashed” said Scott Harrison from the Surfrider San Diego Executive Committee.

Harrison added; “One darker note is that we found more cigarette butts than last year. Since the beach was relatively clean we sent volunteers to help cleanup the streets and sidewalks close to the beach and that is where most of the butts were found. If you choose to smoke, please hold on to your butt and dispose of it properly.”

“We had six different cleanup sites throughout San Diego County. Local environmental and citizen based groups such as San Diego Coastkeeper, I Love Clean San Diego, and Keep Del Mar Clean, helped organize each site. In addition, La Jolla Shores Surfing Association, PB Town Council and other groups pitched in with cleanups. We are encouraged by the enormous success and we hope our educational message has a lasting impact” said Bill Hickman Chapter Coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter.

In an effort to keep San Diego beautiful, Surfrider teamed up with local non-profits and city agencies to form the San Diego Clean Beach Coalition. In addition to beach cleanups, SDCBC also organized cardboard trash and recycle bins for the beaches and an awareness campaign. All summer long the SDCBC wants to remind people to "Enjoy your bash but can your trash".

In addition the to “Morning After Mess”, the Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter conducts beach cleanups on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month. To view the beach cleanup scheduled for 2008 visit the Chapter’s website:

http://www.surfridersd.org/beachcleanups.php




6:30am and the beach is already pretty clean!!



Click Here for more pictures from the cleanups.

Litter Prevention

Awareness and litter prevention is a big part of the CBC and this weekend we remind you to be sure to reusable containers and coolers. No styrofoam at the beach please!

The beaches are so packed that city crews can't get to the trash cans to empty them. The CBC worked to get more of the cardboard trash and recycle bins on local beaches this year. On July 1st we hosted a press conference with SD Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, local police and others in an effort to raise awareness of the importance to keep our beaches and parks clean and litter free this holiday weekend.

Morning After Mess Cleanup Day presented by Sun Diego Boardshops

The Fourth of July is not only San Diego's busiest beach day of the year with hundreds of thousands flocking to the shoreline to enjoy a day of sand, sun, and fun. Unfortunately, anyone who’s seen the aftermath also knows that the holiday produces the most trash and litter of any other beach day. Last year, more than 1,000 volunteers collected over 8,000 pounds of trash.

That’s why the San Diego County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, in cooperation with Sun Diego Boardshops, invite the public to join them in this year’s "Morning After Mess" beach clean up event, Saturday, July 5 from 8am to 11am. The Morning After Mess cleanup will organize volunteers to assist workers picking up the massive amounts of trash left at six San Diego County beaches from Oceanside to Ocean Beach over the Fourth of July holiday.

The six sites are Ocean Beach Pier, Belmont Park in Mission Beach, PB Drive in Pacific Beach, 15th St/Powerhouse Park in Del Mar, Ponto Beach in South Carlsbad, and the Oceanside Pier.

Pre-registration is requested, especially if you have a group of people, but not required. To pre-register, please email Sarah with the site you plan on attending and the total # of people. No minimum age, children are welcome.

Click Here for a liability waiver that everyone needs to sign. If possible, please print it out and have it signed in advance to make the check in process easier.

If you need more information, please contact: Bill Hickman our Chapter Coordinator at (858) 792-9940, or email him.

Many thanks to Sun Diego Boardshops for sponsoring the event and to San Diego Coastkeeper, I Love A Clean San Diego, Keep Del Mar Clean and to the San Diego Clean Beach Coalition for helping to run the event.

CBC Press Release

San Diego Groups Seek Everyone’s Help To Prevent the Trashing of Beaches

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 23, 2008 - SAN DIEGO - A group of San Diego local environmental organizations, community groups, and government agencies have joined together as the San Diego Clean Beach Coalition (SDCBC) to spread the word and take action in a direct attempt to prevent the pollution problem that plagues the area’s beaches during July 4 and other major summer holidays. The group wants people visiting the beach to remember to dispose of trash properly in provided trashcans, trash bags and recycling receptacles.

After July 4 last year, volunteers and City of San Diego workers picked up approximately 200 tons of trash from the sands of San Diego beaches. This year, the coalition worked together to place additional trash receptacles along popular Pacific, Mission and Ocean beaches, as well as Mission Bay Park, for the public’s use.

Beachgoers young and old can be cut by glass, cans and other trash left behind. In addition, beach pollution endangers marine animals that mistake litter for food or get entangled in it.

“Leaving trash on the beach cuts down on everyone’s enjoyment. It’s unsightly, dangerous and can threaten the animals and plants that make our shoreline such a beautiful and inviting place,” said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. “All of us have a responsibility to pick up after ourselves and to lend a hand in keeping our beaches clean and free of trash.”

The SDCBC formed to develop and execute a comprehensive plan to prevent beach litter during the summer holidays. The coalition is a joint partnership between I Love A Clean San Diego, San Diego Coastkeeper, the San Diego Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, FreePB.org, and City of San Diego lifeguards, police, and park rangers.

The partners of the coalition are working together to reduce the amount of litter left strewn on San Diego beaches on the 4th of July holiday and throughout the summer. In addition to placing additional public trash receptacles along Pacific, Mission and Ocean beaches, as well as Mission Bay Park, SDCBC objectives include creating awareness of the resources available for beachgoers to properly dispose of their trash during holiday celebrations, educating the community about pollution prevention through a media campaign, increasing recycling, and educating people planning to visit the beaches about the rules and regulations at local beaches.

The group’s efforts are made possible by the support of these sponsors who share a love of clean beaches: Keep California Beautiful, Anheuser Busch, Sun Diego, Kashi, ClifBar, Lahaina Beach House, Councilmember Kevin Faulconer, Roots Kind Food, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, KFMB-TV’s Volunteer 8, Surfshot, San Diego CityBeat, and 91X.

More information about the efforts of the San Diego Clean Beach Coalition can be found at www.cleanbeachcoalition.org.

Clean Beach Coalition Posters

Check out these great posters that you will be seeing around town. Artwork was created by the good people at Baley Gardner:

Enjoy Your Bash but Can Your Trash

In addition to litter laws there are a number of rules and regulations for City of San Diego beaches and parks:

• Alcoholic beverages are PROHIBITED in beach and park areas.
• Glass bottles and glass containers are NOT allowed at any time in the beach and park area.
• Smoking is PROHIBITED in all beach and park areas within the City of San Diego.
• Fiesta Island, Dog Beach and Dusty Rhodes Park are designated dog areas that are leash-free.
• Dogs are NOT permitted within Mission Bay Park and the beach areas April 1st to October 31st from 9am-6pm and November 1st to March 31st from 9am-4pm. Dogs MUST be leashed at all times.
• Fires are permitted in city designated fire rings between 5am to 12midnight ONLY.
• Fires CANNOT exceed 12 inches above the fire ring.
• Clean dry wood or charcoal only. NO pallets, painted wood, greenery, nails or furniture are allowed in the fire rings.
• Camping and overnight sleeping are NOT permitted in the beach or park area.
• Parking lots are CLOSED at night between 10pm-4am and 2am-4am, please read and obey the posted signs.
• Parking spaces CANNOT be blocked off and/or saved; all parking spaces are first come first serve.
• Each vehicle is allowed only one stall and must fit within the stall at all times.
• All areas of the parks and beaches are first come first serve; roping off and/or barricading an area is NOT permitted. This includes ropes, cords, barrier tapes, tents and other similar devices.
• All helium, blow up, metallic/mylar, water balloons and balloon arches are NOT allowed in the beach and park areas.
• You are responsible to clean up after yourself. Please put your trash in the trash cans and/or the dumpsters within the park and beach area. Please do NOT litter.
• Vehicles are NOT allowed on lawns, beaches, and walkways at any time (this includes loading and unloading purposes).
• Please do NOT tie and/or post anything (ropes, banners, signs, piñatas, decorations, etc.) to any City property (trees, plants, light posts, gazebos, etc.)
• Amplified music is NOT permitted. Noise laws are strictly enforced. Your audio equipment may be impounded.
• Household furniture (sofas, recliners, coffee tables, etc.) are NOT permitted in the beach and park area.

2007 Morning After Mess

1,000 volunteers picked up over 9,000 pounds of trash and 20,000 cigarette butts that were left behind from the 4th of July celebration on San Diego Beaches. Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter and Sun Diego Boardshops sponsored the 4th annual "Morning After Mess" in order to cleanup litter and raise awareness about the state of the beaches following the holiday.

"I was shocked and speechless when I got to the beach this morning and saw the mess that was left behind. After seeing what our volunteers accomplished and a much cleaner beach, I went to work with a renewed bounce in my step. We owe it to all the volunteers that worked so hard" said Ken David from the Surfrider San Diego Executive Committee.

David added; "One bright note is that even though the totals are shocking, the mess was not as bad as last year and we found significantly fewer cigarette butts, thanks in large part to the smoking bans at various beaches." Next year, the Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter and Sun Diego Boardshops will host the 5th "Morning After Mess" Beach Cleanup Day. Cleanup organizers ask beach-goers to help decrease litter by consuming less and buying products that have little packaging. According the volunteers that participated in the July 5th beach cleanup, the majority of the trash is related to packaging.

"We had seven different cleanup sites throughout San Diego County. Local environmental and citizen based groups such as San Diego Coastkeeper, I Love Clean San Diego, and Keep Del Mar Clean, helped organize each site. We are encouraged by the enormous success and we hope our educational message has a lasting impact" said Bill Hickman Chapter Coordinator for the San Diego County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.