Dozens of volunteers canvassed San Diego County beaches on Monday in a cleanup organized by the Surfrider Foundation to remove garbage left behind by litterbugs over the Independence Day weekend.
On Monday morning, which the Surfrider Foundation refers to as "the morning after," volunteers removed trash and debris left behind at county beaches by thousands of residents and visitors who flocked to the shores for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
According to Surfrider, more than 500 volunteers turned up at a half-dozen locations up and down the San Diego County coast and picked up more than a half-ton of trash (in pounds)
Thankfully, this year's numbers pale in comparison to the last pre-pandemic morning after. According to the Surfrider Foundation, nearly 800 volunteers turned out in 2019 and removed a collective 3,900 pounds of trash -- including 5,930 cigarette butts -- from five beaches in a three-hour span.