SAN DIEGO — Large crowds are expected to pack beaches across San Diego this Fourth of July weekend. The holiday usually brings thousands of people to area beaches.
“We’ve been in 110-degree weather so this is perfect for us today,” said Rick Scott who is visiting from El Centro.
Extra garbage collection sites have been added along beaches for beachgoers to dispose of waste.
“We got here (Mission beach) at about 7 a.m. and there was a gentleman setting up these white ones that you see here, up, and down the beach… the effort is definitely there, and it shows,” added Scott.
“There’s plenty of trash cans behind us. The last beach we went to there weren’t as many so this one is more accessible,” said Celene Reyes from the Bay area.
San Diego beaches will be a top destination this weekend and unfortunately, all those people will mean trash is piling up faster than normal, said Alex Ferron with the Surfrider Foundation.
'Morning after mess'
“The Fourth of July is, year after year one of the single biggest beach days leaving the fifth of July the dirtiest. We call it the ‘morning after mess,’” said Ferron.
Ferron is hoping to draw attention to the amount of trash left in and out of the water.
“What we do to try to restore the shore, is show up in numbers. So, we have seven cleanup sites happening from Ocean Beach to Oceanside, all the way up the San Diego coast,” added Ferron.
Ferron says one of the biggest things left behind are cigarette butts and single-use plastics, including food ware, chip bags, straws, and cups.
In 2021, volunteers with the nonprofit removed 1,500 pounds of trash from five beaches in just two hours.
This year, the organization is planning a beach cleanup the day after the holiday, hoping to clean up plastic pollution and keep our beaches clean.
“Our message year after year is to try to switch to reusables as opposed to single use but unfortunately that’s not 100% achieved and leaves a lot of trash left on the beach,” said Ferron.
WATCH RELATED: New report card grades cleanest, dirtiest beaches (June 2022).