Long Beach seeks volunteers for coastal cleanup this Saturday

Volunteers are needed for a coastal cleanup event Saturday in Long Beach.

The city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, or PRM, is coordinating the 40th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.

“California Coastal Cleanup Day brings us together every year to preserve the beauty and health of our shoreline,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement. “And with our new youth art contest, we are empowering our younger generations to make a meaningful impact by combining their passion for art with environmental action.”

Participants may join the effort at any time from 9 a.m. to noon at:

• Junipero Beach, 2100 E. Ocean Blvd.;
• Belmont Pier, 3998 E. Allin St.;
• Peninsula, 72nd Place and Ocean Boulevard;
• Mother’s Beach, 5839 Appian Way; and
• Seal Beach Yacht Club, 255 N. Marina Drive.

Gloves and trash bags will be provided. To reduce waste, officials encouraged cleanup participants to bring their own reusable buckets and reusable gloves.

Prior to the cleanup participants can fill out a digital waiver from the California Coastal Commission. Community members may also visit the El Dorado Nature Center volunteer opportunities webpage to print a liability waiver and submit it on the day of the cleanup. Pre-registration is encouraged prior to the cleanup to save time, but waiver copies will also be available at the participating sites.

Registration for large groups such as schools or businesses is through Kaitlin Soto, Long Beach Coastal Cleanup Day coordinator, at 562-570-1745.

This year’s cleanup will feature a youth art and naming contest for the Jellyfishbot, the city’s newest piece of debris-collecting equipment that can remove up to 100 pounds of debris from water in a single mission. PRM and the Adopt a Beach Program, in partnership with the Aquarium of the Pacific and supported by the Long Beach Container Terminal and Intex Recreation Corp. are sponsoring the contest. Local youth can share their ideas for a chance to name the Jellyfishbot and have their art displayed on the bot’s sides.

Young artists may apply at lbparks.org Sept. 23 through Oct. 25 by clicking on the contest link on the home page. The artist whose work is selected will receive a scholarship package and prizes donated by sponsors. For information about the art-naming contest and to see the Jellyfishbot, visit the Belmont Pier cleanup site at Saturday’s event.

More than 1,100 volunteers removed over 2,500 pounds of debris in only three hours last year.

“This year, the city strives to increase the number of participants and continue to provide educational materials to the community to inform the public about marine debris issues and inspire local environmental stewardship,” officials said in a statement.

Long Beach has made recent sizable investments and taken steps to improve water quality and mitigate beach debris.

“As part of the Adopted Fiscal Year 2025 Budget, one-time funding was approved for a barber surf rake to support the Beach Clean-up Crew and increase the frequency of the city’s beachfront waterline clean-up, as well as a new trash interceptor barge to be placed in the Los Angeles River to improve water quality,” according to the city statement. “The city also has been actively working to leverage regional partnerships and advocate for regional infrastructure improvements to address upstream sewage spills and continues to advocate for additional state funding to be allocated to communities impacted by sewage spills.”

This year’s site captains are people affiliated with Aquarium of the Pacific, Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Algalita, Seal Beach Yacht Club and El Dorado Nature Center.

More from Environment