Over one ton of trash removed from Westport beaches at this year’s Coastsavers Beach Cleanup

Beach clean up volunteers early Saturday at Twin Harbors Beach

Last Saturday, April the 24th, over 130 registered volunteers turned out for this year’s Washington Coastsavers beach clean up at Twin Harbors State Park with dozens more showing up to offer assistance. With blue bird skies and perfect temperatures it was a far cry from last years drizzle and fog and with that over 324 volunteer hours were tallied by Ranger Brad Staab from registration sign-in sheets. Ranger Staab, as in years passed, did a fantastic job facilitating this annual Earth Day inspired clean up which is led by Washington Coastsavers, a program organized by the Washington Clean Coast Alliance, which includes  participating nonprofits, community groups, corporations, and public agencies whose main goal is to save Washington's Pacific Coast from the harm of marine debris. In all Staab reported over 1.5 tons of trash was collected last Saturday, as weighed upon disposal. That’s about the equivalent of two dump trucks! Coastsavers is still tallying results but including the Twin Harbors area clean up, along with all the other participating Washington coastal communities, there were total of 1158 volunteers involved and over 23 tons of debris collected! An amazing success!!!

Volunteers from the South Sound and Seattle Chapters of Surfrider Foundation arrived at 8:00am sharp to set up food and refreshments for volunteers and their chapter sponsored BBQ was in high demand all day as hungry volunteers straggled in for hot dogs, cheeseburgers, chips, fruit, and sodas. Chapter members Andy, Holly, Darren, and Justin stayed busy from morning till late afternoon flipping burgers and plating food for hungry volunteers who came from as far north as Bellingham and as far south as Cannon Beach, Oregon. They also provided information about the work Surfrider and nearby coastal groups are doing along our coast to promote clean oceans, beaches, and marine areas. Recycling containers were also on hand to sort plastics, glass, and paper being collected from the beach and dunes. Among all debris plastics is STILL the reigning champion of the types of debris being collected.

Chapter volunteers L-R Justin, Andy, Darren, Holly, Kathy

The day’s clean up volunteers included nearly a dozen folks from Ocean Gold Seafood who also set up a an information and recycling table at the clean up, 10 volunteers from a Tacoma Community College Oceanography class, and so many others! In addition, natural resources teacher Bruce Jones from Ocosta High School brought out over 25 student and local volunteers the day prior and put in 50 hours of work along Westport beaches. Although Twin Harbors served as the registration site for the clean up dozens of folks chose to gather clean up supplies from Park rangers and head as far north as Westhaven State Park and as far south as Washaway Beach.

Volunteer coastal cleanups and public education efforts can help reduce the amount of debris in our waterways and coastlines. EPA reports that in 2008, over 183,000 people across the U.S. participated in beach cleanups. These cleanup efforts removed almost four million pounds of debris from more than 9,000 miles of coasts, shorelines, and underwater sites. Efforts like the one held this Saturday are definitely a part of the big picture of working toward healthy marine ecosystems. So get involved whenever you can to appreciate the amazing natural resources that our beaches and marine areas have to offer. Learn more by visiting Coastsavers website or contact them at (206) 220-4279 or David Landau via email. Special thank to everyone involved in this years cleanup and especially to Andy at the Seattle Chapter for bringing and organizing all of the food for nearly 150 volunteers!