California Celebrates 40th Coastal Cleanup Anniversary
California Celebrates 40th Coastal Cleanup Anniversary
by Daisy Ruvalcaba, ISO and Terminal Compliance Manager
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.
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!