The sand was a little brighter and a little softer early Saturday afternoon in Long Beach as scores of volunteers swarmed out Saturday for International Coastal Cleanup day.

Volunteers, from as far away as Gardena and as close as just down the street, picked up bucketloads of drug paraphernalia and cigarette butts while warning others, considering their finds, not to walk on the beach barefoot.

“It’s a mess,” said Roger Abea, who lives nearby in Bixby Park. “It ruins my beautiful views, and over the years you see it get worse and worse. It ends up in the ocean, so if you like the ocean don’t leave your trash everywhere.”

Girl Scout Troop 2993 and Cub Scout pack 247 gathered early to participate in Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

Jack McDermott, 3, picks up trash on Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

Serenity Wood of Girl Scout Troop 2993 found plastic utensils while picking up trash on Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

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Patrick Holman sifts through debris, picking out cigarette butts and styrofoam on Coastal Cleanup Day in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

Girl Scout Troop 2993 and Cub Scout pack 247 gathered early to participate in Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. They gathered many bags of cigarette butts, plastic straws, balloons and more. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)



Ace Nunez picks up trash with Cub Scout pack 247 on Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

Girl Scout Troop 2993 and Cub Scout pack 247 gathered early to participate in Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

Girl Scout Troop 2993 and Cub Scout pack 247 gathered early to participate in Coastal Cleanup Day at Mother’s Beach in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

Angeline Lee volunteered to pick up trash on Coastal Cleanup Day with fellow employees from SGA Associates, an environmental marketing firm in Long Beach on Saturday, September. 15, 2018. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)

“The biggest problem is the production of the material,” said Alfred Sanchez, with the student sustainability coalition at Cal State Long Beach. “We’re producing too much. We need to produce from old materials.”

Sanchez said it’s going to take a law to keep people from producing too much plastic. He said that people always had the option to bring their own reusable shopping bags to the store, but didn’t feel it was necessary until there was a negative consequence in place.

“Unfortunately, we’re going to see a lot of species die,” he said. “I think it’s going to take something drastic. … We caused this — we’re the ones who need to take action.”

Danny Han, a first-time volunteer, decided to make the 13-mile trek from Gardena for the cause and said he expected it to be worse. He said he picked up a handful of cigarette butts and some plastic bottles.

“It’s God’s creation and we’re supposed to keep it clean and beautiful,” Han said. “And we made a mess out of it. If we take more trash than we brought here, if everyone can help out a little bit, we’ll see a significant change.”

Picked up

The top five most picked-up items during Coastal Cleanup Day 2017 included:

2,412,151 cigarette butts

1,739,743 food wrappers

1,569,135 plastic bottles

1,091,107 plastic bottle caps

And 757,523 plastic grocery bags.

Established by Linda Maraniss and Kathy O’Hara of the Ocean Conservancy, the third Saturday in September has become Ocean Conservancy’s flagship International Coastal Cleanup Day.

In 2017, nearly 800,000 volunteers collectively removed more than 20 million pieces of trash from beaches and waterways around the world, according to the Ocean Conservancy’s report.

Throughout the three decades, more than 12 million volunteers from 153 countries have come together to participate in the coastal cleanup the Ocean Conservancy said, and volunteers have picked up more than 220 million pounds of trash from the world’s beaches.

Trash in the water and on the shore can kill marine animals, injure swimmers and beachgoers, and entangle boat propellers. Scientists have also found evidence that ocean plastic is linked with disease on coral reefs the Ocean Conservancy said.

Cigarette butts, food wrappers, abandoned fishing gear and even automobiles and kitchen appliances have become the norm but more unique items have also been saved from the ocean, such as couches, blenders, stereos and even a bucket of nails.

More information: healthebay.org