Volunteers flocked to San Diego County beaches Wednesday to clean up the mess left by Fourth of July beachgoers, collecting 2,832 pounds of trash.
The 347 volunteers arrived Wednesday morning at seven popular beaches for the Surfrider Foundation San Diego's annual post-Fourth of July "Morning After" beach cleanup.
In just three hours, more than a ton of trash had been collected, including 1,925 pounds at Ocean Beach's Dog Beach. Most of the refuse was single-use plastics, according to Surfrider.
"Many of our volunteers remarked that the beaches seemed cleaner than in previous years, which is a great sign that we are headed in the right direction together," Alex Ferron, Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter Manager, said in a statement. "Despite that, we can't lose sight of the fact that even one piece of trash on the beach is too many.
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"More than anything, we hope our beach cleanups inspire San Diegans to continue down the path of coastal stewardship and environmental activism," he said.
Surfrider volunteers hosted cleanups at Ocean Beach and Oceanside piers -- with 129 and 92 pounds of trash collected, respectively -- while partner organizations hosted the remaining five cleanups: OB Dog Beach hosted by San Diego River Park Foundation; Mission Beach, with 47 pounds collected, hosted by San Diego Coastkeeper; Fiesta Island (381 pounds), hosted by I Love A Clean San Diego; Crystal Pier (96 pounds), hosted by Paddle For Peace; and Moonlight Beach (73 pounds) hosted by Un Mar De Colores.
The cleanup sites were chosen "because of the high concentration of beachgoers and notorious reputations for post-4th of July trash," according to Surfrider.
