Sparkling clean sand is the goal

Suzie Harrison

They like talking trash, or rather about how to get rid of it. Public

awareness and education is their mission -- it’s the only way

Laguna’s beaches are going to stay a little cleaner. Of course, the

objective is to keep them a lot cleaner, but every little bit helps.

Groups such as the Clean Water Now! Coalition and the Surfrider

Foundation organize events such as the quarterly Adopt-A-Beach

Cleanup Day. The next cleanup day was planned to coincide with the

“first flush” -- when debris makes its way to the beach after the

rains. The event will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Main Beach.

“These are Coastal Commission programs,” said Roger von Butow,

founder of Clean Water Now! “No one wanted to administer it in Laguna

Beach, so I decided to take on the responsibility. The Coastal

Commission had our city available for foster-hood.”

The Surfrider Foundation started helping with this particular

program about two years ago, he said. Rick Wilson, chairman of the

Laguna Surfrider Foundation, said that the group has been doing beach

cleanup’s independent of Clean Water Now! for as long as the

organization has been around, since about ’91 or ’92.

“Roger coordinated it,” Wilson said. “The last couple of years, we

joined forces to coordinate the cleanup efforts in Laguna Beach.”

Even the Surfrider constituent at Laguna Beach High School likes

to help. Not only does participation earn students community service

credit, but it also can make a difference, said Marshall Thomas,

president of the school’s club.

“It’s a great way to educate our community about the impact we

have on our beaches and oceans,” Thomas said.

The trash the groups will be picking up comes from the storm

drains that have been flushed out by the rain, Thomas said.

“The cleanup as well will raise awareness,” Thomas said. “It’s

really important that people are aware -- that’s our purpose of the

Surfrider Club at Laguna Beach High School.”

Wilson said he is concerned that some people don’t realize that

trash washes down to Laguna beaches from inland cities like Mission

Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita.

It’s not just the unsightliness that is worrisome, he said. Trash

such as food containers can harbor bacteria, and plastic trash isn’t

biodegradable, he said.

“Mammals eat it, and it can kill them,” Wilson said. “They think

it’s real food. It’s a danger to sea life, great if not greater than

the problems that affect us.”

“It doesn’t just affect around the coast, it gets out there and

circles around,” Wilson said. “It’s not just a local or California

problem -- we’re literally filling the ocean with trash and with

plastic.”

Von Butow said he has seen studies that show that only 15% of the

contaminants come from Laguna Beach; the other 85% comes from

upstream.

Although the clean up starts at Main Beach, people are sent out to

clean any strand or cove in Laguna, von Butow said.

“It’s not very complicated,” he said. “We give out gloves and bags

and literature on anything that has to do with the environment,

recycling, water quality and water conservation.”

A good start, von Butow said, is to focus on the visual. By

educating and spreading the seed, people will notice. They will see

the trash all over the beaches and will begin to understand how the

marine habitat will be affected.

“With more long-term concerns, you’ve got to understand that it’s

not a sprint, it’s a long slow process,” von Butow said. “You’ve got

to educate people continually.”

He said he expects about 100 to 150 people to come to Saturday’s

event. A certificate of appreciation will be given out with T-shirts

and stickers. Free parking passes good for the whole day, will be

given out. Von Butow hopes that will encourage people to help out and

then enjoy a day in Laguna Beach.

For more information, call von Butow at (949) 497-4816 or Wilson

at (949) 492-8170. Or visit their websites at

https://www.cleanwaternow.com or https://www.surfrider.org.