25th ANNUAL CCD RECORD-BREAKING RESULTS!
Volunteers in San Diego County celebrated the 25th Anniversary of California
Coastal Cleanup Day bigger and better than ever before this year! Thanks to
these stellar volunteers, communities, beaches, bays, and open spaces are
now 133,453 pounds of debris cleaner! Coordinators at I Love A Clean San
Diego and San Diego Coastkeeper were hoping to engage 10,000 volunteers, and
San Diegans rose to the occasion! A proud 10,143 volunteers participated at
80 coastal and inland cleanup sites, where they removed litter, cleared
invasive plant species, painted storm drains with a preventative message,
painted murals, created trails, and planted trees and other native plants.
Thanks are in order to these volunteers, as well as this year's event
sponsors. This year's Coastal Cleanup Day was presented by the County Board
of Supervisors through the support of Supervisor Pam Slater-Price and
Supervisor Greg Cox along with the City of San Diego's Think Blue Stormwater
Department. Additional support was generously provided by the Sempra Energy
Foundation, Allied Waste Services, Qualcomm, Kashi, Belmont Park, The
Wavehouse, SeaWorld Adventure Park, The San Diego Bay Watershed Group,
Alaskan Brewery, Bank of America, Sanyo, Hornblower Cruises and Events,
Harrah's Rincon Casino, Sturgeon Services International, General Dynamics
NASSCO, Lincoln Military Housing, Fitness and Wellness Insurance, Birch
Aquarium at Scripps, and DMAX Engineering.
To view more results from this years Coastal Cleanup Day, please visit
www.cleanupday.org.
4. RECYCLING BOTTLE CAPS, By Beth Kimball, ILACSD's Administrative
Coordinator
According to data collected from California Coastal Cleanup Day, bottle caps
rank in the top 5 items found by volunteers at this annual event. These
discarded caps never biodegrade in the marine environment, where they
persistently pose a threat to wildlife. Small, brightly colored bits of
plastic are often mistaken for food and ingested by seabirds and other
animals. At this year's Coastal Cleanup Day, San Diego volunteers collected
11,227 caps and lids!
Therefore, it is no surprise that a common question we are asked at our
recycling and hazardous waste hotline is: What about bottle caps?
Unfortunately, bottle caps, unlike plastic bottles, are made of
polypropylene plastic. This type of plastic, usually labeled with a number 5
recycling symbol, has a much higher melting point than bottles. This
difference is significant to recycling processors. Recyclables are sorted at
processing plants and filtered for contaminants, although some caps still
find their way into the mix. If this happens, the whole load becomes
contaminated and the mix turns into a tie-dye swirl of melted bottles with
bits of solid caps. For this reason, we advise residents to separate caps
from bottles.
What can I do with my caps?
There are several recycling companies in San Diego that take back
polypropylene (#5). Visit our website, www.wastefreesd.org, to find one near
you. Please call ahead as some recyclers have specifications.
Also, eco-friendly manufacturers, such as Aveda take caps back at their
retail locations. They collect twist top and flip-top lids, which are
recycled to make new Aveda products and packaging. To learn more about the
program, visit http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/caps.asp.
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