Obviously it is, because every year we expect it and every year it happens and nothing is ever done to prevent it.

I’m talking about the trash dumped all over our coast this holiday weekend by mainly out of town visitors. When will the responsible authorities take command of the situation?  Do the city parks get trashed like our coastline over the Labor Day holiday?

The attached pictures were taken at Montara Beach early morning on Labor Day BEFORE the next wave of crowds hit the beach and left even more trash. This scene was repeated up and down the length of the beach (and most beaches along the coast).

But Labor Day visitors had a nice clean Montara beach waiting for them, thanks to the early morning clean up efforts of several locals (thanks guys, you know who you are). I hope the visitors had fun on their day at the beach, because it’s no fun cleaning up after them. This behavior just reinforces the importance of environmental awareness education in our schools as parents breed the next generation of polluters who just follow their parents example.

California Coastal Clean Up Day is September 15th at a beach near you.

Kevin

Thanks for the (discouraging) photos, Kevin. We own a home on the Atlantic coast, and it’s the same deal there - vacationers show up and trash the place while pursuing their fun in the sun. They have even less excuse to litter at that beach as the city provides plenty trash/recycling receptacles at short intervals… yet the dirty diapers, soda cans, old toys, etc. still get strewn around on the sand. Lifeguards and beach patrol do their best, but it’s never enough. Small wonder that relatively unpatrolled beaches like the ones we have here end up being a big mess on holidays.

Maureen, I moved from Rhode Island 10 years ago and it was the same thing there.

Sometime in the mid ‘70s the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra started playing on the deck of the local beach pavillion out to an evening audience in the sand with the waves breaking in the background. By the end of the concert, the stars were out as the orchestra played some incredible pieces. Obviously, I don’t think they were using their best instruments (with the humidity and all), but it was wonderful anyway.

It went great for a five or six years; that was until the word got out. What started out with about 100 to 150 or so locals, sitting on blankets and beach chairs with portable mini cocktail tables topped with wine,  cheese and hors d’oeuvres, some characters hilariously garbed in Burmuda shorts, tuxedo jackets and bare feet, ....... eventually turned into a nightmare of out-of-towners tripping, sitting, and spilling beer on our blankets and leaving their trash on the beach. After two to three years of that nonsense, we never went again and many of our friends pulled out as well for the same reason.

Reminds me of what some of the more entrenched locals have said about the Pumpkin Festival evolution.

Oops, typo alert ..... that was supposed to be Bermuda, not Burmuda.