Keeping the coast, oceans clear

NEWPORT BEACH — A pair of jeans. Six tennis balls. The front doorstep of a motor home.

They may sound like the inventory of a Goodwill store, but actually, they were all things Al Geos’ Boy Scout troop found in Upper Newport Bay Saturday morning.

Geos, a parent and assistant scoutmaster, brought 11 scouts from Troop 746 in Newport Beach to help out on Coastal Cleanup Day, an annual event in which volunteers remove trash and debris from the state’s beaches. The scouts, who rode ferries across the bay and filled large plastic bags with refuse, picked out their share of Styrofoam, beer bottles and cigarettes, but they also came upon the truly bizarre on occasion.

“I think it’s an excellent lesson about things that get in the environment and don’t decay,” Geos said.

Saturday marked the 23rd annual Coastal Cleanup Day, with volunteers gathering at more than 700 locations statewide. Sara Girard, a senior park ranger and Coastal Cleanup coordinator for Orange County, said more than 70 sites in the county were taking part this year. Around Newport Beach, cleanups took place at Corona del Mar State Beach, Shellmaker Island, the Newport Pier and other spots.

John Moore, who has worked as a lifeguard by the Newport Pier for nearly two decades, said he looked forward to Coastal Cleanup Day every year — in part, because it took some of the burden off of him and his colleagues.

“It makes our job more appealing because we don’t have to talk to people about picking up their own trash,” he said. “But it’s just a great day to come down here. It helps the environment and helps the city out as well.”

According to Girard, the county had collected 72,028 pounds of trash by 5 p.m. Saturday, with 13,701 of it recyclable. More than 5,000 volunteers, she added, had registered around the county.

“The biggest difference I would say that it makes is in people’s awareness,” Girard said. “What we’re trying to do is teach that if you do it this one day, it makes a difference. If you do it every day, it makes a bigger difference.

“It’s an inland problem as well as a coastal problem. What starts inland goes into rivers and streams and ends up in our ocean.”