July 5th Morning After Mess - Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year Recap

Few holidays generate more trash on San Diego County beaches than the Fourth of July. The “Morning After Mess” showcases the impact that our reliance on wasteful single-use plastic products has on our coastal environment. Each year, the San Diego County Chapter and partners host the “Morning After Mess” cleanup series to help tackle the mess.

"Morning After Mess" volunteers at the Oceanside cleanup site proudly showcase their cleanup efforts.

With the amazing support of five partners, two sponsors, and 688 volunteers, Surfrider San Diego removed 3,906 Pounds of Trash from San Diego’s Beaches on July 5th

688 volunteers gathered at nine popular beaches on Friday morning to assist with the Surfrider Foundation San Diego’s annual post-Fourth of July “Morning After Mess” beach cleanup series. In only three hours, volunteers recovered more than 3,906 pounds of trash ⁠— primarily single-use plastics ⁠— which otherwise would have been washed into the sea, adding to the already critical pollution problem devastating the world’s oceans.

Surfrider volunteers hosted cleanups at Imperial Beach, Ocean Beach Pier, South Ponto, and Oceanside Pier. Partner organizations hosted the other sites: San Diego River Park Foundation at the San Diego River Estuary and Dog Beach, San Diego Coastkeeper at Mission Beach, I Love A Clean San Diego at Fiesta Island, Paddle for Peace at Pacific Beach, Un Mar De Colores at Moonlight Beach. Sponsors supported the efforts as well, including COOLA at South Ponto and Mitch’s Seafood at Ocean Beach Pier. These cleanup sites were chosen because of the high concentration of beachgoers and their notorious reputations for post-Fourth of July trash.

Total Weights by Site:

Oceanside Breakwater Way: 135 lbs
South Ponto - Sponsored by COOLA: 94 lbs
Moonlight Beach - Un Mar De Colores: 125 lbs
Pacific Beach - Paddle For Peace: 216 lbs
Mission Beach - San Diego Coastkeeper: 231 lbs
Fiesta Island - I Love A Clean San Diego: 1,320 lbs
San Diego River Estuary & OB Dog Beach - San Diego River Park Foundation: 1,575 lbs
Ocean Beach Pier - Sponsored by Mitch's Seafood: 120 lbs
Imperial Beach: 90 lbs

Invaluable Partners

Surfrider San Diego is extremely fortunate and thankful for the support of San Diego River Park Foundation, I Love a Clean San Diego, San Diego Coastkeeper, Paddle for Peace, and Un Mar de Colores for their continued support of the “Morning After Mess” cleanup series. These closely aligned partner organizations led five out of the nine cleanups, which accounted for close to 90% of the waste collected during this year’s cleanup.

While Surfrider San Diego spearheads this event, it is abundantly clear that the most effective way to bring waves of positive change is through collaborative efforts!

Paddle for Peace consolidating trash collected at Pacific Beach on July 5th, 2024.

Is July 5th the "Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year"?

The title of “Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year” rings true after a preliminary review of the data of the trash collected across several sites from the current year. When comparing the amount of trash collected per volunteer at Surfrider San Diego’s consistently held beach cleanup locations – Imperial Beach, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Moonlight Beach, and Oceanside Pier – to the data from those same sites on July 5th, we find that all five sites we dirtier on July 5th than the average monthly cleanup between January and June of 2024. On average, a volunteer cleaned up 1.8 pounds of trash on July 5th, compared to 1 pound of trash during a regular monthly cleanup at the exact same locations.

	Monthly Cleanups Average for 2024	July 5th 2024
Imperial Beach Pier	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 0.9 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 103 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 101	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 1.5 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 62 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 90
Ocean Beach Pier	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 1.3 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 177 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 223	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 3 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 40 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 120
Pacific Beach	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 0.9 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 221 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 201	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 2.4 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 90 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 216
Moonlight State	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 0.9 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 125 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 115	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 1.3 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 95 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 125
Oceanside Pier	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 1.2 lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 66 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 81	Pounds of trash cleaned up per volunteer: 1.5lbs/volunteer Number of Volunteers: 90 Pounds of Trash Cleaned up: 135

Is the Mess left behind on July 5th any different?

Across the five sites mentioned above, the types of trash found on July 5th were very similar to those found at other beach cleanups. For example, cigarette butts were the top item found on July 5th at Imperial Beach (953) and Ocean Beach (1,557), as well as at the average monthly cleanup in 2024 (563 and 1,541, respectively). This trend was also observed at Pacific Beach and Moonlight State Beach, where plastic fragments smaller than a dime were the most common item found both on July 5th and during the average monthly cleanup.

Unsurprisingly, there was one key difference in the type of trash found at one location, which is indicative of a 4th of July celebration. At Oceanside Pier, the amount of firework waste found on July 5th topped the charts, with 865 individual pieces recorded. In contrast, firework waste barely registered during monthly cleanups, with a total of 25 individual pieces found between January and June.

We can’t clean our way out of the plastic pollution crisis.
Another increasingly frustrating similarity is the disproportionate amount of plastic waste found at Surfrider San Diego cleanups, regardless of how special or mundane the day at the beach might be.

Over 80% of all waste found during beach cleanups is plastic.

We cannot clean up our way out of this mess without large-scale legislative interventions and industry innovations to rapidly shift away from single-use plastic products.

Image: 7 of the 953 cigarette butts found at Imperial Beach on July 5th, 2024.

The Surfrider Foundation San Diego has a handful of programs working to fight plastic pollution in San Diego. The Rise Above Plastics program has been key in introducing and passing single-use plastic and polystyrene ordinances across San Diego County. The program uses outreach, education, and advocacy to cut down on single-use plastics before they reach the coast.

Take Action
Read more about how the Statewide Plastic Reduction Law Makes Progress and take action here!

Image: Hundreds of red, white and blue plastic confetti were found at Oceanside on July 5th, 2024.

Some Good News

On a positive note, many volunteers who joined a cleanup on July 5th remarked that the beaches seemed cleaner than in previous years, which is a great sign! Despite that, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that even one piece of trash on the beach is one piece too many. More than anything, the hope is that beach cleanups inspire San Diegans to continue down the path of coastal stewardship, to continue lessening our reliance on single-use plastics, and hold businesses and governments accountable for the plastic pollution that has no place in our communities, on our beaches, or in our ocean.

"Morning After Mess" Local News Coverage
FOX 5 News - https://surfrider-foundation.muckrack.com/broadcast/savedclips/view/SLFxgTWuLX
CBS 8 News - https://surfrider-foundation.muckrack.com/broadcast/savedclips/view/s6m7LXCqB2
KUSI News - https://surfrider-foundation.muckrack.com/broadcast/savedclips/view/ezlllCEP76
KBPS News - https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2024/07/05/volunteers-remove-nearly-4k-lbs-of-trash-from-county-beaches-after-fourth-of-july