Coast Cleanup Day Nets Tons of Junk

Over 1,000 volunteers picked up over 5,000 pounds of trash and 1,000 pounds of recyclables in Santa Barbara County as part of California Coastal Cleanup Day on September 17. Volunteers collected litter on 29 sites ranging from Rincon Beach Park in the south to Guadalupe Dunes in the north. Collected items included typical beach trash such as cigarette butts and plastic bags, but also some whoppers such as an outboard boat engine and a 40-pound chunk of lead. The Isla Vista beaches and Lake Los Carneros yielded the largest loads of trash, a combined 1,631 pounds.