Community Corner

Beach Cleanup Totals are In....And They are Ugly

Save Our Shores analyzed 17,503 pounds of garbage collected on Monterey Bay rivers and beaches Sept. 17. Here are the results.

The amount of cigarette butts on the beach has dropped about as fast as the popularity of Congress, but they are still the top source of beach pollution, according to an analysis by the environmental group, Save Our Shores.

The group has helped install 18 bait tanks around Santa Cruz and Capitola – colorful receptacles for cigarette butts – and says that butt litter has decreased around them by 70 percent. However, in the Sept. 17 cleanup, 36,082 butts were retreived.

"Butts are made of plastic and toxic materials, and are seen as a major threat to marine species locally and worldwide," writes SOS communications director Colleen Bednarz.

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Food wrappers and containers were second with a total of 13,127. Also: Caps/lids: 6,412. Plastic beverage bottles: 2,158. Straws/stirrers: 2,129.


Plastic bags came in at 4,749, something SOS hopes will improve with countywide bans on single use plastic bags.

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"While the total number of pounds collected during Annual Coastal Cleanup Day 2011 was less this year, our data shows a consistent presence of the top polluters at nearly every beach and river cleanup we host, during every season of the year," says Bednarz.

"Those are cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, plastic bags and bottle caps."

She adds: "Improvements are only seen when a change of behavior happens on land. That's why Save Our Shores works to ban single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam take-out containers in our local jurisdictions, because these items have been consistent, top polluters for years on end, wreaking havoc on our marine environment."

Here are the lowlights of what SOS collected:

Items Monterey Santa Cruz Total Shoreline Activities

 

Bags (paper)

801 1,872 2,473 Bags (plastic) 1,458 3,293 4,749 Balloons 309 426 735 Plastic Bottles 480 1,678 2,158 Cans 367 1,888 2,245 Caps, lids 2,578 3,836 6,412 Clothing, shoes 318 1,066 1,364 Cups, plates, utensils 1,010 1,865 2,875 Food wrappers, containers 4,997 8,130 13,127 6-pack holders 45 109 154 Shotgun shells 54 58 112 Toys 210 418 628 Ocean Activities

 

Bait containers

57 25 82 Bleach bottles 11 31 42 Buoys, floats 30 12 42 Fishing line 140 83 223 Fishing nets 78 218 296 Light bulbs 8 35 43 Oil/lube bottles 7 27 34 Pellets 42 9 51 Tarps 181 297 478 Rope 228 219 447 Strapping bands 111 195 306 Smoking related Cigarettes/filters 16,251 19,831 36,082 Lighters 50 485 535 Cigar tips 764 601 1,365 Tobacco wrappers 389 453 842

 

Dumping

Major appliances 1 20 21 Batteries 36 134 170 Building materials 711 685 1,396 Cars/parts 88 74 162 55-gallon drums 3 2 5 Tires 4 55 59 Medical Condoms 43 117 160 Diapers 8 71 79 Syringes 4 85 89 Tampons/applicators 13 63 76


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