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Thousands of volunteers expected to hit Central Coast beaches this Saturday

This Saturday, September 20, is the 30th annual International Coastal Cleanup Day. Several organized efforts are taking place along the beaches of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties.

In California alone last year it's estimated more than 70,000 people collected nearly a million pounds of trash.

Eben Schwartz is the marine debris manager for the California Coastal Commission. He says the Central Coast plays a big role in those numbers.

"We see upwards of 10,000 people on that stretch of coast alone," said Schwartz. "There are a lot of volunteers out throughout the Central Coast, it's really a testament to how much they love their beaches and inland waterways and want to do something to make them better."

Schwartz says one of the more unusual items to turn up recently was in Monterey County. A few years ago a book was collected with two President Warren G. Harding inauguration (1921) reception tickets tucked inside. 

Cigarette butts are still among the top items collected. But, Schwartz says volunteers are seeing an uptick in the number of single-use plastic food containers (think yogurt cups, chip bags, and candy wrappers).

There is also a measurable decline in the number of plastic grocery bags being collected in areas where bag bans have been put into effect. In San Francisco, for instance, the Coastal Commission says it has seen a drop of 34 percent in bags collected since that city's law was approved in 2008.

Cal Trans is also getting in on the clean-up act on Saturday. Look for crews picking up trash along stretches of Highway 101 in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, and Highway 1 in Monterey County near Big Sur.

Organized efforts:

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