The day after Independence Day is when the beaches up and down the Southern Californian coast suffer from the most litter, garbage and plastic pollution, according to non-profit environmental organization, the Surfrider Foundation.
“We just see it year after year. You know, we see many, many beachgoers making their way to the coast the day before to celebrate Independence Day. And we just see tons of single use plastic bottles, utensils, bags, straws, fireworks and more,” said Newara Brosnan-Faltas, Southern California Regional Manager for Surfrider.
Pollution and the discarding of waste by people into our natural environment is one of the biggest existential problems the human race faces. Putting aside for a moment, the catastrophic consequences caused by the relentless dumping of garbage actually at sea — which has contributed to the creation of a 620,000 square mile accumulation of trash in the ocean between California and Hawaii — a lot of waste still finds its way into the sea by way of river estuaries, waste pipes, beaches and tides.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, which it obviously is, plastic and other, often frankly disgusting, trash left on the beaches is not only extremely unpleasant to stumble across, but can be dangerous to both animals and people.
“We find a lot of drug paraphernalia like needles and such like and sometimes even baby diapers. Condoms too, quite a lot of condoms,” Brosnan-Faltas says.
Aside from a total, outright disrespect for the environment in which we all have to live, other people and all other life forms that we share the planet with, what makes people do this?
“One key factor behind the persistence of beach litter is a general lack of knowledge about how trash and plastic affect the environment and our marine ecosystems,” says Brosnan-Faltas.
“Public education through efforts like Surfrider’s Beach Cleanup Program can play an important role in informing individuals about the harmful effects of litter on our beaches, such as the contamination of water sources, the entanglement and ingestion risks for marine animals and the disruption of fragile ecosystems.”
According to Brosnan-Faltas, they’ve collected over 1,970 pounds of trash from local Los Angeles beaches this year so far during public cleanup events. But Surfrider’s beach cleanup events do more than just remove trash. They collect and analyze data about what’s ending up on our beaches, which contributes to the success of our advocacy actions.
“The real change that we’re trying to make is to ensure that we collect the data to inform better advocacy. We have a long track record of helping pass bills locally that banned plastics. Numbers that people can collect when they’re beach cleaning, can help us do that more effectively,” says Brosnan-Faltas.
The Surfrider Foundation has helped pass bills that ban plastic bags in California grocery stores, keep unwanted plastic utensils out of takeout orders in NYC, and commit to reducing single-use plastics in National Parks. In 2022, 20 local, state and federal laws were passed that keep 4.2 billion items of plastic out of circulation.
Of course, every time you go for a walk along the beautiful, sandy beaches of sunny Santa Monica, you could pick up trash…and some residents do. Even just filling a supermarket-sized grocery bag and dropping it into an actual bin helps. However, because of some of the repugnant items that some folk leave behind, Brosnan-Faltas suggests wearing gloves and possibly even consider the purchase of a “grabber.”
“Surfrider actually has a solo cleanup database that people can use. So if folks want to get out there and help clean up, we encourage people to document what they’re finding,” says Brosnan-Faltas.
However, if you can’t make it down to the beach for Wednesday July 5, another non-profit, environmental organization LA Waterkeeper will be hosting the first of four beach and river cleanups in the Los Angeles River watershed as part of the global Plastic Free July initiative. After all, it’s always nice to meet like-minded people. If you’re interested, everyone will be meeting at 9 a.m. at Tower 20, near 2030 Ocean Ave on Saturday, July 8.
Last year alone, LA Waterkeeper, together with more than 700 volunteers, collected over 4,000 pounds of trash — most of it plastic — and cleaned up more than four miles of coastline, rivers and creek beds.