Among the microplastics, foam pieces, and other debris, one piece of trash continues to leave a big mark on beaches in Santa Barbara and across the country: the cigarette butt. Tiny, tar-ridden, and easy to overlook, these orange-stained filters continue to be the most common item collected during beach cleanups.
Last year 196,283 cigarette butts were collected by Surfrider Foundation volunteers on beaches around the U.S., a reminder that removing these small pieces of litter definitely contributes to the larger effort of protecting the coastline.
Since its inception in 1984, the Surfrider Foundation has grown into one of the country’s largest grassroots environmental organizations, with volunteers and activists working hard to protect the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches.
That mission extends to Santa Barbara, where volunteers returned to East Beach in June for the latest Beach Cleanup program. They were surprised by the amount of litter they found, said Bill Hickman, Surfrider’s Central Coast senior regional manager.
“Thirty people came out and picked up over 130 pounds of trash,” he said. “At beach cleanups, you may average two to three pounds per person if you’re lucky, so that was a pretty big haul.”
Hickman joined Surfrider more than 20 years ago as a volunteer and now supports chapters from Ventura to Santa Cruz. While popular Santa Barbara beaches like East Beach and Leadbetter tend to see more litter than others, he said it isn’t unusual to see an influx like last month’s and that the amount of debris often depends on factors such as rainfall and the time of year.
The items found were predictable: micro plastics, foam fragments, plastic straws, and more. But cigarette butts continue to be the most common item collected, not just in Santa Barbara but nationally.
Smoking-related waste now accounts for roughly one in four littered items found on U.S. beaches. And as nicotine pouches and vapes become increasingly popular, the amount of waste from these products continues to grow, with an estimated 500,000 disposable vapes discarded every day.
But at East Beach, only a handful of nicotine devices were found, which Hickman said is a positive sign.
“There seems to be a nationwide trend with vapes, both nicotine and THC products,” he said. “So we’re definitely trying to keep an eye on it regardless.”
Published July 14, the organization’s 2025 Beach Cleanup Report showed that volunteers across the country collected 338,383 pounds of trash through 1,058 cleanups involving 34,058 participants.
One of the largest hauls came from a single cleanup at Ormond Beach in Oxnard, where 2,060 pounds of trash was collected in just one day. Hickman said that while the amount of trash was surprising, it isn’t uncommon for an area with heavy industrial activity.
Luckily the Ventura chapter continues to be one of the most active Surfrider groups in California, hosting three beach cleanups every month. But now with the summer heat promising waves of tourists, Hickman hopes to bring that same consistency back to Santa Barbara.
“The Gaviota Coast is beautiful and pristine. It’s tough to find litter there,” he said. “And while Santa Barbara is pretty clean, we definitely need to send some extra love to the city beaches.”
Surfrider Santa Barbara will host beach cleanups on the first Saturday of every other month at East Beach. The next cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, August 1, from 9 to 11 a.m. Volunteers can sign up at santabarbara.surfrider.org or register on-site the day of the event.
