Monterey Bay beaches get Memorial Day clean-up and pollution prevention

Memorial Day weekend is bringing out more people to beaches on the Central Coast, and while that means fun in the sun it also means more trash left behind.

“We’ve picked up quite a bit of trash and it’s disgusting,” said 10-year-old Save our Shores volunteer, Philippa Davis.

“A lot of cigarette buds and bottle caps,” added volunteer Daren Neely.

That’s why dozens of Save Our Shores’ volunteers are spending their holiday weekend picking up trash on the Central Coasts’ hottest spots, like Davenport Main Beach in Santa Cruz County and Del Monte Beach in Monterey County.

Bite sized trash is the biggest focus for clean-up crews. Not only are they harmful to animals but they affect the ocean as well.

“Especially plastic, they have a magnetic quality to them that attracts toxins and chemicals and that’s what animals are attracted to. They think its food. And it also affects our water quality because if you imagine these little toxic balls floating in the water,” said Communications Director for Save Our Shores, Ryan Kallabis.

Last year, volunteers picked up 75 pounds of trash at Cowell Beach alone, and more than 600 pounds at Davenport.

So far this weekend, volunteers have hauled 85 pounds of trash from Cowell and 125 pounds from Davenport.

With Memorial Day on Monday, there’s another cleaning planned for Tuesday. After sorting through all of the junk, the group hopes to start targeting brands and see how they can work with companies to change their message or product design.