Coastal Cleanup Day 2022 Wrap-up

September 27, 2022

Coastal Cleanup Day is a delightful community event where folks who are passionate about wild coastal areas get to enjoy those places, to give back to those places, and get to share their passion with others who are equally as enthusiastic about all that is wild, living, and beautiful.

Conrad Kramer, MLT Executive Director

On Saturday, September 17, 2022, during the 38th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, hundreds of community members throughout Mendocino County picked up thousands of pounds of trash, in an event organized locally by the Mendocino Land Trust. Volunteers hauled in discarded plastic bags, food containers, a “breathtaking amount” of cigarette butts, and one submerged kayak. The kayak was found in Noyo Harbor during the annual boating cleanup hosted every year since 2009 by Liquid Fusion Kayaking. “Every day is Coastal Cleanup Day here at Liquid Fusion; we pick up trash whenever we’re out on the water,” said Liquid Fusion’s Cate Hawthorne. “But it feels good to get a group of like-minded people together to get something big done and to haul in bigger pieces of trash that we can’t do by ourselves.” That kayak, by the way, was then used in the cleanup itself, pulled alongside the boats as a trash barge, allowing boaters to bring more in than they could fit on their own personal crafts.

Countywide, there were 21 cleanup sites in celebration of Coastal Cleanup Day. A total of 458 participants removed 6,383 pounds of trash/recyclables from local beaches, the Noyo River, Hare Creek, and parks and forests inland. Of that total, nearly 3,500 pounds were from a Ukiah-based cleanup of several sites along the Russian River and another 1,200 pounds were collected from Mitchell Creek in Fort Bragg. Organized by Mendocino County Resource Conservation District and Mendocino Trail Stewards, respectively, these inland cleanups helped double the number of volunteers from last year. Cleaning these inland sites is important because it helps keep our ocean clean by getting trash out of the watershed before it can even reach the beach via our local rivers and streams.

Also cleaning on Saturday were children from local schools and clubs. For more than a decade, the students of Pacific Community Charter School in Point Arena have made Coastal Cleanup Day a part of their calendar, and this year was no exception. 73 students, teachers, and chaperones from PCCS went to Schooner Gulch, Stonesboro, and City Park. There, they picked up 42 pounds of trash and recyclables, and as one teacher, Ms. Moonflower said, “We all laughed and sang and took time to get to know each other a little more as a class out in the world.” Students from the Interact Club at Fort Bragg High School helped with the cleanup at Hare Creek Beach, and a hardy group of 10 students and teachers from TLC (Transition Learning Center) and OARS (Outreach, Advocacy, Researches, and Services) in Fort Bragg hit the Westport beaches for a gorgeous afternoon of cleaning and team-building activities. Kids also joined parents and friends across the county; young people once again proved to be stalwarts of the day.

Staff and Board members of the Mendocino Land Trust (MLT) hosted cleanups at three sites: Hare Creek Beach, Seaside Beach, and Noyo Headlands Park. 38 volunteers, including students from Fort Bragg High School’s Interact Club, hauled 264 pounds of trash away from these three sites. In addition to hosting cleanup sites, MLT served as the County Coordinator for Coastal Cleanup Day for the 19th year in a row. According to Conrad Kramer, Executive Director of MLT, “Coastal Cleanup Day is a delightful community event where folks who are passionate about wild coastal areas get to enjoy those places, to give back to those places, and get to share their passion with others who are equally as enthusiastic about all that is wild, living, and beautiful.” 

Coastal Cleanup Day happens the third Saturday of every September, rain or shine! If you are interested in being a site captain next year, please email info@mendocinolandtrust.org or call the Mendocino Land Trust office at (707) 962-0470.