California Celebrates 40th Coastal Cleanup Anniversary

California Celebrates 40th Coastal Cleanup Anniversary

by Daisy Ruvalcaba, ISO and Terminal Compliance Manager

Team Matson poses for a picture along the coastline of the Oakland Estuary.
Team Matson 2024!
A volunteer holds a grabber while another holds a bucket and grabber to collect trash.
Barbara Oberta, SQES, and Elena Kong, Treasury.

On Saturday, Sept. 21, nearly 29,000 volunteers gathered at beaches, shorelines, and inland waterways, cleaning up locations in almost all of California’s 58 counties, across the state’s entire coastline, and as far inland as Lake Tahoe. This year marks the 40th anniversary of California’s participation in the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by the Ocean Conservancy. These volunteers picked up 242,312 pounds of trash and 12,461 pounds of recyclable materials, for a total of 254,772 pounds, or 127 tons.

This year, Matson, the Port of Oakland, and the East Bay Municipal Utility District recruited approximately 210 volunteers to help clean up the shoreline along the Oakland Estuary.

The SQES Team is very grateful for everyone’s participation in this annual tradition, which keeps our beaches a little cleaner and encourages camaraderie and fellowship among employees.

A large group of volunteers, all friends and family of one employee, smile for the camera on the shoreline of the Oakland Estuary.
Team Low!

I want to extend a special mahalo to Byron Low, manager of safety, pricing, and process solutions at Matson Logistics’ warehousing and distribution in Oakland, and the large crew of family and friends he manages to wrangle annually. This year, Byron’s tribe consisted of about 40 individuals. They participate in every Coastal Cleanup and make it a family affair, complete with coolers and boom boxes. This group has become a FUNdamental part of our annual cleanup crew, and they definitely bring the fun!

Thank you again to all of our volunteers!

Volunteers sit and eat at picnic tables, while one volunteer holds his winning raffle ticket up in the air.
Winner! Vincent Davis, IT Services.
Two volunteers hold one trash bag and hold their grabbers with the Oakland Estuary in the background.
Alan Kong, husband of Elena, and Dru Daley, Operations.
Volunteers pose with buckets and grabbers with the Oakland Estuary in the background.
Catherine Mukai, SQES; Susan Tsui, Human Resources; and Zoey Tsui.