Thank you to all of the students, teachers, parents, and volunteers who turned out for Coastal Cleanup Day!  On September 18, students from Mattole Triple Junction, Mattole School, Honeydew School, and Independent Study programs partnered with community members and the Mattole Restoration Council to clean an impressive 471 pounds of trash from 7 Mile Beach!

These 48 students and 21 adults filled 15 bags with trash and recycling, then returned to school to tally their collections as follows: 29 food wrappers, 1 cigarette butt, 6 fishing buoys/pots/traps, 76 meters of rope, 10 pieces of construction material, 2 tires, 81 plastic bottles, 22 glass bottles, 42 beverage cans, 11 plastic bags, 4 paper bags, 53 pieces of plastic or foam packaging, 30 plastic (non-beverage) bottles, 10 shoes, 5 metal stakes,  and ~1300 pieces of plastic micro trash.  Without the hard work of these students, this trash would have likely become marine debris, posing a risk to marine life and the health of our Ocean.

Coastal Cleanup Day is an annual event that started in Humboldt County 35 years ago by the Northcoast Environmental Center. This year, 400 Humboldt volunteers tackled 65 sites to collect 6-8 tons of debris.  Statewide, over 53,555 volunteers turned out on Coastal Clean-up Day to clean 307 tons of debris from 900 sites.

Great job students, and a special thank you to all the parents, teachers, MRC staff, and volunteers that turned out to help!