Volunteers pick up trash that washed ashore on Topanga Beach on Sept. 19. Heal the Bay provided volunteers with the necessary tools for the cleanup. Photos by Liam Stringer
For communities across Los Angeles, Coastal Cleanup Day marked more than just another day at the beach. The Sept. 19 cleanup transformed the shoreline into a place of service, connection and shared purpose.
Sponsored by Heal the Bay and BAYWATCH, the annual event brings families, friends and neighbors together with gloves and trash bags in hand. It turns a day of environmental action into an opportunity to care for both the coastline and the community that calls it home.
“This is the largest environmental cleanup day in the world and we’re stoked to be a part of it,” said Anne McGregor, Director of Marketing for Kids Helping LA.
A Community Effort
Heal the Bay is an environmental nonprofit founded in 1985 with a mission to keep Greater LA’s coastal waters and watersheds safe, healthy and clean, according to the organization’s website.
“We are about building and action,” said Erin Viera, chief operations officer for Heal the Bay. “We use science, education and of course activism to get people out there making a difference.”
That mission stretches far beyond the shoreline. The annual Coastal Cleanup Day features more than 60 cleanup sites across the region — including beaches, rivers, parks, neighborhoods and even underwater dive sites, Viera said.
This year, Heal the Bay partnered with local nonprofit Kids Helping LA at Topanga Beach, which brought families together to serve their community while raising awareness about the health of the coastline.
“Heal the Bay is a fantastic organization and we’re so happy to be a part of it,” McGregor said.
Kids Helping LA connects children and families with volunteer opportunities throughout LA, according to the organization’s Instagram page. Its mission is to empower children to make a difference in their communities through hands-on volunteerism.
Volunteer Annie O’Rourke (left) and Erin Viera (right) smile at the Coastal Cleanup Sept. 19. McGregor said this is Kids Helping LA’s second year attending the annual cleanup.
Protecting the Bay
As volunteers combed the sand at Topanga Beach, their trash bags quickly filled.
“Folks are finding some really interesting things on the beach,” Viera said. “A lot of microplastics, which is a really big deal and hard to find.”
Plastic bags, empty bottles, pieces of metal and smoking-related waste were among the items volunteers collected throughout the day. Small wooden beams, believed to have washed ashore following housing damage from the recent storms, were also scattered along the beach.
“In terms of larger items, I’ve seen whole fences coming out this morning,” Viera said.
Full trash bags sit in the sun next to the volunteer tent at the Coastal Cleanup on Sept. 19. Guests were encouraged to sort their trash by material.
Many of the volunteers were families from Topanga Elementary School, which gave children the opportunity to learn about environmental action outside the classroom while helping care for a coastline in their own community.
“We care so much about the lagoon, the ocean and all the trash that’s in our creek beds,” said Nick Young, parent and head of the Topanga Elementary School Science Committee. “We have a lot of families that are environmentally conscious and they want their kids to participate in this event today.”
For Young, watching children take an active role in protecting their environment gives the cleanup a meaning that stretches beyond what volunteers carry away in their trash bags.
“There’s so many awful things in the world and I think kids are more sensitive than we realize,” Young said. “So it’s really great to have a kid come down here and feel like they’re doing something good for the world.”
Families work together at the Coastal Cleanup, removing trash and other debris that threaten the local ecosystem Sept. 19. Young said Topanga Elementary School looks forward to the cleanup each year.
That collective effort can add up. Last year, volunteers collected approximately 19,000 pounds of trash across Coastal Cleanup Day sites, according to Heal the Bay.
The motivation is stronger than ever to clean up the beaches after the Palisades Fire and recent storms.
“Our oceans are forgotten,” Young said. “During the fires and the rain, all that runoff ends up here and it affects all our beaches.”
Ways to Volunteer
While Coastal Cleanup Day takes place once a year, Heal the Bay’s efforts to protect the coastline continues year-round.
The organization’s next cleanup event, “Nothin’ But Sand,” is scheduled for Oct. 17 at 10 a.m., according to its website.
“Follow Heal the Bay’s social media, because we are always taking action.” Viera said.
For Viera, that action is about more than removing trash from the sand. Each cleanup is part of a larger effort to protect the people, wildlife and ecosystems that depend on Southern California’s coastline.
“One thing I really love about Heal the Bay is that we really target both human health and the health of the ecosystem and the species that call the ecosystem home,” Viera said.
This story was copy edited by Haylie Ross.
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