Save Our Shores expanding Labor Day clean-up efforts

Thousands of people travel to the Central Coast over LaborDayweekend.As businesses prepare for the big rush, volunteers with Save Our Shores are ready to clean-up what’s left behind.

“There’s just piles of bottles, piles of cans, people have been at a campsite and decided to just leave everything behind,” said sanctuary steward Melanie Franklin.

Franklin has spent more than 400 hours picking up trash at Santa Cruz County beaches. She said the two most common things they pick up are cigarette butts and beer cans.

Last year after Labor Day weekend, volunteers cleaned up 350,000 pounds of trash at Panther Beach in Santa Cruz.

“Labor Day brings people and it’s good for the local economy but what we don’t realize is what trash is left behind,” said Ryan Kallabis with Save Our Shores.

Kallabis said this year Save Our Shores is expanding its efforts. On Tuesday, volunteers will pick up trash at Cowell and Main Beach, Sunny Cove and Del Monte beach in Monterey. Also, all weekend volunteers will pass out trash bags to visitors.

“What we want to do is make sure that (visitors) are aware of their actions when they come to the beach. We want them to pack in and pack out,” said Kallabis.

Still, for volunteers like Franklin, it’s about more than just a clean beach.

“Once I was out and I recognized and could see the amount of trash, the amount of debris and what the animals were ingesting. That’s when I knew I had to take action,” said Franklin.

If you’d like to join volunteers in their effort, you can visit www.SaveOurShores.org.