Central Coasting: The challenge of keeping beaches clean

On a summer day, there’s no question the beach is the place to be for volleyball, an evening bonfire or a relaxing stroll, but lately, Central Coast beaches have been experiencing the downside of a little too much love.

“The beach offers a lot of free entertainment for everybody, but when people come, not many of them are prepared with what they’re bringing to the beach and what they’re going to bring back from the beach,” said Ryan Kallabis of Save Our Shores.

With the busy Fourth of July weekend just ahead, Kallabis says most beach pollution is due to tourism. Volunteers can tell by the trash that’s collected.

“Styrofoam coolers and plastic bags, which we know are banned here along the Monterey Bay, so we know these are visitors from over the hill,” he said.

Davenport Beach tops the list of the most polluted beaches, followed by Panther Beach and Cowell Beach, all in Santa Cruz County. The list also includes Marina and Del Monte Beach in Monterey County.

Kallabis says coastal terrain has a lot do with pollution patterns.

“Significantly, north coast Santa Cruz beaches, because of the way the cliffs are,” he explained. “They’re very secluded and private, so we see a lot of waste up there.”

Sienna White knows that first hand. She’s collected trash from beaches for the past 6 and-a-half years.

White recently spent about two hours at Panther Beach, picking up trash, cans and empty glass bottles, about a hundred pounds of trash in all.

Her advice?

“Pack your trash, and if your neighbor leaves, pack their trash too,” she said. “Take trash bags and remember the ocean will hug you for it.”

That’s a message Kallabis and Save Our Shores have been trying to spread as well.

“We’ve been working with the County and City of Santa Cruz to reduce the amount of waste,” he said. “That’s actually coming to the beach with the pollution prevention, handing out trash bags and things like that.”

Recently, the County and City of Santa Cruz have increased fines for littering beaches from $30 to $150, and fines will be tripled during holidays.