Annual Washington Coast Cleanup looking for volunteers ahead of Earth Day

The Washington Coast Cleanup (WCC) is held every year on the Saturday before Earth Day.

Earth Day is Monday, April 22, so the cleanup will take place this Saturday.

The WCC crew and Washington Coast Savers (WCS) have worked together since 2007, aiming to keep our state’s beaches and parks clean.

Emily Masseth, with Washington State Parks, shared numbers from last year’s event.

“We had 783 volunteers for last year’s Washington Coast Cleanup and they were able to pick up 14,350 pounds of trash off of our beaches,” Masseth said.

That is over seven tons and the equivalent of a half-full garbage truck, all in one day.

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Although this is called the Washington Coast Clean Up, Masseth explained the efforts go beyond our state.

“So it’s kind of a mix of different ones. So some of the state parks that are participating are Cape Disappointment, Fort Flagler, Fort Townsend, Fort Warden, Grayland Beach, Mystery Bay, Ocean City, Pacific Beach, Shine Tidelands and Twin Harbors. And there are also some city and county beach parks that also participate,” she explained.

Masseth added that volunteers can choose where to go.

“They can pick which beaches they want to go to, which is nice. So they can decide which place they want to visit, they can go to coastsavers.org and they can see all of the opportunities that are available on there, as well as the check-in stations. And if they’re not able to register beforehand, they can also register day of at those check-in stations,” she said.

Masseth told KIRO Newsradio that volunteers will need to bring their own food and beverages and they’ll need to purchase a parking pass.

“So on April 20, it’s not one of our Discover pass-free days. So people need a Discover pass in order for vehicle access at our state parks if they decide to do the cleanup at one of those locations. And if they need to purchase one, they can go to discoverpass.wa.gov. They can buy it online, or they can see the list of our licensed vendors, which are usually local chambers of commerce, outfitter stores, grocery stores, so they can find a location that’s close to them and it’s easier for them to purchase,” she explained.

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A single-day pass costs $10.

And if you discover that you enjoy cleaning our local beaches, Masseth told KIRO Newsradio about other opportunities coming up.

“We do two other cleanups throughout the year with Washington Coast Savers. We do one on the Fourth of July. There’s a fourth and fifth cleanup in July. And that’s mostly to alleviate some of the garbage that’s left behind by beachgoers and people who shoot off fireworks at our beaches,” she said. “So that’s one of our biggest cleanups of the year. And those numbers tend to be higher. And we also put on the International Coast Cleanup with Washington Coast Savers, and that’s the third Saturday of September usually.”

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