Volunteers Collect Amazing Amount of Trash at a Beach Many Consider the Cleanest in SD

Today’s post comes from our new Community Events Coordinator, Lexi Ambrogi!

Last Saturday, I Love A Clean San Diego partnered with Jerome’s Furniture to host Jerome’s Cleanup at La Jolla Shores. We weren’t the only ones who thought to hit the beach early; even before 7AM, the parking lot was starting to fill up. But more people usually means more trash, so our volunteers would have plenty to keep them busy.

La Jolla Shores has the reputation of being one of the cleanest beaches in San Diego, but you’d never know it from the sight of our completed cleanup. Our 131 volunteers collected a grand total of 322 pounds of trash and 37 pounds of recyclables! Considering that much of the debris consisted of tiny scraps of plastic and paper, that’s a pretty impressive haul.

Some other cool statistics: our volunteers collected 1,527 pieces of plastic—and that’s not even including the 148 plastic bags that they picked up! 1,333 cigarette butts, 79 Band-Aids, 9 pieces of fireworks, and 40 pieces of glass later, our volunteers were able to relax on some of the awesome outdoor furniture that our friends at Jerome’s brought out for us.

This was my first cleanup as Community Events Coordinator, and I was excited to make it a good experience for everyone. Waking up before 5 to load the truck and pick up coffee from Starbucks wasn’t nearly as daunting—I’m an extreme morning person—as making sure that everything ran smoothly throughout the cleanup. I was thrilled to receive some good feedback from volunteers who were having a great time making a difference in their community. Cheerful volunteers, hundreds of pounds of trash off our beaches, and drinking coffee on the beach while sitting in Jerome’s furniture: not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning! I couldn’t have asked for anything more from my first event, and I want to thank everyone who came out to join us this weekend. You really did make a difference!

Though we aren’t hosting a cleanup in August, there’s still a way for you to get your volunteering fix for the month. We’re having a packing party at our office in Liberty Station throughout the month of August to prepare supplies for our countywide cleanup, Coastal Cleanup Day, and need volunteers. On September 15, ILACSD will coordinate more than 80 sites for Coastal Cleanup Day throughout San Diego County; that’s a lot of supplies to box up! If you’re interested in joining us, you can see a list of shifts here or email me at lambrogi@cleansd.org for details!