YOU made a difference for our Coasts and Waterways!
The Northcoast Environmental Center held the 39th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 15—our biggest event of the year!
For those of you who don’t know what Coastal Cleanup Day is, or the unique history it has here on the North Coast, here are a few fun facts. Now an international event, Coastal Cleanup Day began right here in Humboldt in 1979 as the Beach Beautification Project—a program conceived by Joe Abbott and his wife, Anne Morrissey in partnership with the NEC. The Beach Beautification Project evolved into Adopt-A-Beach, a program we still have at
the NEC today.
After a few years, the program drew the attention of the California Coastal Commission and became a statewide cleanup. Next came the adoption by the Ocean Conservancy— turning this small town event into the world’s largest single-day volunteering event.
We at the NEC are incredibly honored by such a rich history. Next year, we are looking at our 40th anniversary and we hope to have our largest turnout yet!
This year’s cleanups drew over 57,000 people statewide, who cleaned up over 267 tons of debris from the coast! Data on the North Coast is still trickling in, but our current count stands at over 700 volunteers, 52 site captains, and 45 sites in Humboldt County. These wonderful volunteers cleaned up over six tons of debris from
our local watersheds!
Many of our volunteers have been participating in Coastal Cleanup Day for several years (and even decades!), and we love to see them coming back every year.
We would also like to thank our sponsors for all of the support we received and helping to make this event possible year after year! We cannot thank all of you enough for your commitment to making this event such a success and keeping our watersheds clear of unwanted debris!
THANK YOU!
With 3/4 of the cleanup sites reporting,
the statewide totals are:
57,694 volunteers
who picked up
487,053 pounds of trash
and an additional
46,949 pounds of recyclables
for a total of 534,002 pounds collected along
1,025 miles of waterways.
Preliminary North Coast Totals:
52 site captains
~ 45 cleanup sites
~ 700 volunteers
Over 6 tons of debris collected
Many thanks to our Site Captains!
The following is a list of sites for which data had been submitted by the time of EcoNews printing:
Lee Rusconi – Big Lagoon County Park
Rebecca Lueck, Trinidad Union School – Trinidad State Beach
Carol Mone – Indian Beach/ Old Home Beach
Greg Gibbs – Baker Beach
Natalianne Tuttle, Norcal Beach Clean – Agate Beach
Lucia Boyer, Eureka High School – Eureka High and Surrounding Areas
Ben Morehead, Vanessa Munoz, Trinidad Coastal Land Trust – Luffenholtz & Moonstone Beaches
Josh Koepke, Samara Restoration – Murray Rd Beach
Allison Rafferty – Shay Park
Simon Bueche, Northcoast Environmental Center – Clam Beach
Aime and Matt Beard – Samoa Beach
HSU Chemistry Club – Arcata Marsh
Lea Eider – Mad River County Park
Le Club du Pied et La Bouche – Samoa Beach
Alicia Hamann, Friends of the Eel – Crab Park
Ashley Donnell, HSU Women’s Rowing – Eureka Waterfront
Joe McKenzie, Coast Seafoods – Palco Marsh
Lynn Casillas, GHD – Arcata Bay Trail
Debbie Marshall – Freshwater Lagoon
HSU YES House – Clam Beach
Humboldt Skindivers – Trinidad Harbor (Underwater)
Coastal Grove School – Mad River Beach County Park
George Ziminsky, Friends of Arcata Marsh (FOAM) – Arcata Marsh
Kiya Villarreal, North Coast Co-op – Mad River Slough at Hwy 255/Samoa Blvd.
Mad River Alliance – Mad River
Jess Barger, Friends of the Dunes – Manila Dunes/Humboldt Coastal Nature Center/Friends of the Dunes (Stamps Lane)
Damien Langsten, California Conservation Corps – Ma-le’l Dunes South
USCG – Samoa Blvd: Beach to USCG Station
Lost Coast Rotaract – Samoa Beach: Power Poles
Tim Haywood, PacOut Green Team – Samoa Beach: Samoa Bridge, Vance Avenue
Surfrider Humboldt – Samoa Beach: Power Poles
Blondies – LK Wood
College of the Redwoods – Mattole Estuary
Heather Brown & Dan Tangey, East High School – South Jetty/South Spit
Jan Hawkes – King Salmon Beaches
Olivia Santangini, Papa & Barkley – King Salmon Beaches
Jenny McCarthy, Redwood Coast Zoo Keepers Association – Eureka Waterfront Trail
Rachel Montgomery, PG&E Vegetation Management – Table Bluff County Park Beach to Eel River Mouth
Amber Patzlaff – Fortuna Riverwalk
Sea Scout Ship Yankee – Woodley Island/ Humboldt Bay
Humboldt State Slackliners Club – Patrick’s Point
Daniel Tibbetts, California Conservation Corps – Centerville Beach County Parks
Malia Freedlund, Mattole Elementary School – McNutt Gulch along the 7 Mile Stretch
Fortuna High School Creeks/ Fortuna Interact Club – Table Bluff County Park Beach to Eel River Mouth
Jen Kalt & Jasmin Segura, Humboldt Baykeeper, Wiyot Tribe, Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, and Hog Island Oyster Company – Indian Island
Many thanks to our sponsors!
