Watershed Brigade Microtrash Challenge

You can help keep microplastics out of the ocean by joining the Watershed Brigade’s Microtrash Challenge at West Beach on Saturday, September 18^th, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

For this Coastal Cleanup Day event, volunteers will meet in person at West Beach and collect litter, paying special attention to pieces of microtrash. Any litter smaller than a golf ball can be considered microtrash, from tiny wrappers to water bottle caps, styrofoam bits, and discarded pieces of packaging and plastic.

Fish, birds, and other marine life can ingest microtrash, which can harm their digestive tracts, change their eating habits, and impact their growth and reproduction.  Toxins and pollutants can also bind to the surfaces of microplastics and, if ingested by wildlife, can spread toxic chemicals throughout the food chain. Let’s keep it out of the environment!

Volunteers of all ages can join in the fun and there will be Ice Cream from Rori’s Artisanal Creamery for 20 lucky participants! Volunteers can bring their own gloves, buckets, and kitchen strainers (for collecting microtrash), but there will also be cleanup supplies available at the event.

Visit the Watershed Brigade’s Microtrash Challenge event page to find more information and to sign up. https://www.sbck.org/brigade/watershed-brigade-event/

About the Watershed Brigade
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade is a community of volunteers dedicated to keeping our local watersheds and beaches clean. Brigade members remove trash from trails, creeks, rivers, urban areas, and beaches, act as environmental stewards, and collect trash data used to help reduce pollution at its source. And it’s fun! Volunteers earn points that make them eligible for perks and prizes.

About Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper was founded in 1999 as a program of the Environmental Defense Center and became an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2001. For more than 20 years, the organization has worked to protect water quality, restore aquatic ecosystems, advocate for clean water, enforce environmental laws, and educate and engage citizens in implementing solutions to water pollution and aquatic habitat degradation. 

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, a coalition of more than 300 grassroots Waterkeeper groups on six continents collectively patrolling and protecting more than 2.7 million square miles of watersheds and defending their communities’ right to clean water. It is also a member of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, a coalition of California Waterkeepers working to strengthen water quality and marine habitat protections at the state level.   To learn more, please visit www.sbck.org