Record Amount of Trash Cleaned from Creeks

More than 1,200 volunteers celebrated Creek Week by yanking 6,347 pounds of trash from six South Coast creeks.  That’s up by 4,311 pounds the year before and 3,042 pounds in 2016. According to the city’s Creeks Division, the Environmental Defense Center, and the educational group Explore Ecology, 58 miles of creek channel were cleaned up this past week.

Included in the grand finale were 3,903 cigarette butts, 3,355 pieces of plastic, eight shopping carts, at least one junked bike, multiple car tires, one car bumper, a fertilizer spreader, an electric iron, a toilet seat cover, a piano leg, an electric scooter, and a plastic truck liner. Of the waste cleaned up, the vast majority was trash. Only 684 pounds could be recycled.

Organizers of the event were advised beforehand to avoid homeless camps by the California Coastal Commission, so these numbers do not reflect waste generated in such locations. 

Correction: Creek Week kicked off with Coastal Cleanup Day on September 21, which was sponsored by municipal entities, EDC, and Explore Ecology.