San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center (SGERC) has officially adopted San Gregorio State Beach through the Adopt-A-Beach program. SGERC will hold three cleanup events each year and promote awareness of the benefits of a healthy beach and marine environment. SGERC has been site captain for the annual Coastal Cleanup Day for more than a decade, and continued the tradition this year with a hugely successful cleanup of the beach and surrounding area this September.
More than 30 people participated in San Gregorio’s cleanup, which brought in 79 pounds of trash, 14 pounds of recyclables, and 20 tires! One individual deserves extra EXTRA credit for arranging for these tires to be brought up from the beach just north of San Gregorio. In San Mateo County, 4,920 volunteers picked up 27,813 lbs of trash and 4,534 lbs of recyclables. In California, preliminary results show more than 53,000 people volunteered, picking up 698,931 lbs of trash and 35,674 lbs of recyclables!
Most unusual items found in San Mateo County include a marijuana chocolate bar, a Jimmy Buffet book, an Apple laptop, a bag full of knee and leg braces, and 21,000 cigarette butts picked up by the Pacifica Beach Coalition. Most unusual items in the state; in Marin County a volunteer found a painting of a marsh, in a marsh. In Los Angeles County a volunteer found a Coca-Cola can from 1963.
On the one hand, it’s too bad this much litter is left behind, but on the other hand volunteers enjoy the rewards and immediate results of their efforts to keep our beaches and landscape healthy and beautiful. Consider volunteering at one of SGERC’s future beach cleanups. The next will be in April 2019 to celebrate Earth Day, and another will follow the 4thof July weekend. Watch their website for more information on cleanup events, or keep reading La Honda Voice!! www.sgerc.org