Students Get Jump-Start on Beach Cleanup

More than 100 second-graders hit San Buenaventura State Beach with a purpose Friday, filling big blue bags with aluminum cans, cigarette butts and bits of Styrofoam.

The students from Ventura’s Mound School were getting a jump-start on the 14th annual Coastal Clean-Up Day, scheduled today from 9 a.m. to noon at more than a dozen locations across Ventura County. The event emphasizes the need for the public to take responsibility for keeping the California shoreline clean.

Sporting gloves, shorts and T-shirts, the youngsters spent two hours Friday morning combing the beach for litter that they had recently learned is responsible for killing thousands of marine mammals and sea birds each year.

“Sea gulls can die from the garbage,” Patrick Lopiano, 7, said as he grabbed a bit of plastic from the sand.

“Picking up trash also helps to clean the world,” added 7-year-old Curtis James.

Teacher Lisa Miller said she hoped the field trip left students with the feeling that they had contributed to the community.

“We’re hoping the kids walk away with the sense that they helped clean an area they visit all the time,” Miller said.

Three dozen parents were also on hand to tally each bit of garbage the kids collected, with cigarette butts and Styrofoam topping many of the lists.

“It’s great for the kids to learn how much trash is being thrown out,” said Charlotte James, a mother who is a member of Mound’s Parent Teacher Organization.

Each year more than 14 billion pounds of trash are dumped into the world’s oceans, killing an estimated 100,000 marine mammals and 2 million sea birds that either eat or become entangled in the debris, according to Jessica Craven, co-chairwoman of the Ventura County Coalition for Coastal and Inland Waterways.

Last year 1,101 volunteers removed 20,969 pounds of trash and 3,008 pounds of recyclables from Ventura County waterways.

Unusual items found during last year’s statewide cleanup effort included a rat named Jack in a miniature coffin, a jar containing two voodoo dolls with a picture of a man, a bag of human hair, and a bathroom, with a toilet, sink, shower and tiles.

Organizers are anticipating 60,000 volunteers to show up today at more than 600 sites across California. In Ventura County, the event will focus on cleaning up local waterways, parks, roads and neighborhoods.

Participants are urged to wear gloves, long pants and sturdy shoes. For the closest location and directions call (800) CLEAN-UP.