Surfrider Tackles San Diego’s Post-Fourth of July ‘Morning After’ Mess

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE 06/28/13

Contact: Haley Haggerstone
Chapter Coordinator, Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter
E-Mail: haley@surfridersd.org
Phone: (619) 929-5350
http://surfridersd.org/

Surfrider Tackles San Diego’s Post-Fourth of July ‘Morning After’ Mess

SAN DIEGO – There’s nothing like celebrating the Fourth of July on a beautiful San Diego beach. However, visit that same shoreline the morning after, and the sight is significantly less lovely thanks to the thousands of pounds of trash left behind. (Trash, plus marshmallows if you happen to be in Ocean Beach after the annual marshmallow fight.) Thankfully, the Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego County Chapter will be leading the way in cleaning up the mess.

On July 5, 2013, the nonprofit invites beach-lovers of all ages to join the “Morning After Mess,” cleanup hosted from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Ocean Beach Pier, Belmont Park in Mission Beach, Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach and the South Harbor Jetty in Oceanside. Bags and gloves will be provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own reusable bag, bucket or gloves to cut down on single-use plastic waste. Participants under the age of 18 will need a parent or legal guardian to sign for them. There is no need to pre-register and the first 40 volunteers at each location will get a free hat.

This year’s event is sponsored by radio station 102.1FM KPRi and healthy snack company Clif Bar. Surfrider will be hosting cleanup sites along with longtime event partners San Diego Coastkeeper and I Love a Clean San Diego.

Never underestimate the impact of a Surfrider volunteer! Last year’s annual Morning After Mess cleanup saw a turnout of over 500 people. Together, volunteers on beaches up and down the coastline collected 2,607 pounds of trash and 191 pounds of recyclables – much of which was plastic. The trash collected also included 559 plastic bags and 13,200 cigarette butts. Without the amazing volunteer effort, all this litter may have washed into the sea where it would add to the already critical pollution problem devastating the world’s oceans.

San Diego Chapter Coordinator, Haley Haggerstone, says “We’ve seen a significant decrease in the amount trash collected at our annual Morning After Mess since the drinking ban was put into effect in 2008, but there is still garbage to be found, and we need volunteers to help with our cleanup efforts. We’re asking everyone to help keep our beaches clean because it’s kind of a big deal!”

Surfrider Foundation is also working hard to stop the problem before it becomes the ‘Morning After Mess.’ Through successful campaigns like Rise Above Plastics and Hold Onto Your Butt, the organization uses education and community outreach to cut down on single-use plastics and cigarette butts before they reach beaches.

For more information on Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter’s ‘Morning After Mess’ cleanups on July 5, visit
https://sandiego.surfrider.org/keep-our-beaches-clean-its-kind-of-a-big-deal or contact Chapter Coordinator, Haley Haggerstone at haley@surfridersd.org or (619) 929-5350.

For more on the Surfrider Foundation’s San Diego County Chapter visit http://surfridersd.org/.

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