Nearly 20-thousand volunteered for state’s Coastal Cleanup

Thousands of volunteers flocked to the California coast and waterways on Saturday to participate in the 41st annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.

The event – the largest single-day volunteer event in the world, according to Guinness World Records – invited volunteers across the state to pick up trash along coastal areas ranging from Lake Tahoe to the San Francisco Bay.

According to the California Coastal Commission, which leads the statewide effort, nearly 20-thousand volunteers picked up more than 178-thousand pounds of trash and recyclables. 

These numbers are likely to increase, given only 40 percent of cleanup sites had reported final numbers as of yesterday (Sunday).

The Coastal Commission reports that approximately three-quarters of the waste collected by volunteers over the past 40 years is plastic. Additionally, 80 percent of the trash collected originates on land before eventually making its way into waterways and draining out to the ocean.