Education Programs
Ocean Day Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up
Each Spring, ILACSD partners with the California Coastal Commission to coordinate San Diego County’s Ocean Day Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up event. This program provides interactive presentations about pollution prevention and marine ecosystems to thousands of students. Students are then invited to participate in a field trip to the beach to take part in a clean up event and an aerial art formation in the sand.
The aerial art formation sends a larger message to the San Diego community that clean beaches are a vital part our livelihood. We also want to ensure the beaches are respected. The event teaches students the dangers of pollution in our marine ecosystems and the important role they play in helping keep our beaches clean.
The video from The Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education on the left shows the process of creating a human aerial art piece.
2009 Ocean Day Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up
This year’s event involved 1,000 students, teachers, and volunteers who removed debris from Coronado City Beach. After completing the cleanup, participants made an aerial art formation below to spread awareness about marine debris and how it impacts wildlife.
2008 Ocean Day Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up
Last year’s event involved 800 students, teachers, and volunteers who removed 132 pounds of debris from Oceanside City Beach! The image below shows the aerial art from a bird's eye view.
To learn how your school can get involved or to donate, please contact our Education Director.
2009 Ocean Day Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up Press Release
June 4, 2009
For immediate release
San Diego County Students Take Active Role in Celebration of World Ocean Day
Students send a clear message about ocean health
SAN DIEGO, CA – More than 8,000 kids across California celebrated Ocean Day by hitting the beach for the 16th Annual Kids’ Ocean Day Cleanup. Cleanups stretched from California’s Northern to Southern borders, from the rocky shores of Humboldt to the wide sandy beaches of San Diego.
Nine hundred elementary school students from San Diego’s South Bay cleaned up Coronado City Beach on the morning of June 4, 2009, removing hundreds of pounds of trash and recyclables from the beautiful Coronado beach.
After the cleanup, the students gathered into a 260 foot by 260 foot human aerial art formation on the sand, creating a giant turtle crawling on the beach surrounded by the plea “Save Our Ocean”.
As the helicopter hovered overhead taking photos, the mood became serious and the students realized the importance of their role in the art. When asked what the message was that they were sending, one student said “Don’t litter!” His mother, Ruby Armstrong, said “I thought it was great! We picked up mostly cigarette butts and plastic.”
The cleanup sent a very important message connecting the problem of trash in the world’s oceans to the proliferation of litter in neighborhoods. The California Coastal Commission reports that 80% of the trash in the ocean comes from inland areas through storm drains and waterways such as rivers. This trash is especially dangerous for the animals that inhabit the ocean and beaches, as animals often mistake garbage for food or become entangled in it, causing injury as well as death [source: California Coastal Commission ]. Greenpeace reports that 50% to 80% of dead sea turtles have been found with marine debris in their stomachs [source: Greenpeace ].
"The children who participate in this event have learned about the problems facing the ocean and have come to the beach to lend a hand,” said Bonnie Neely, chair of the California Coastal Commission. “They are helping the ocean by removing trash from the beach that would otherwise become marine debris. These kids are part of the solution, and through their aerial art they are sending a message that the ocean is in trouble and we all need to do our part to save it,” she said. The Coastal Commission coordinates the program statewide and provides financial support from the Whale Tail License Plate Fund.
In the months prior to the cleanup participating students received a school presentation to learn about urban storm drain systems and ocean ecosystems. “The Kids’ Beach Cleanup is an impressive program. After learning about sources of ocean pollution, children immediately have the opportunity to take action, clean the beach, and send a powerful message of stewardship to the residents of San Diego County,” said Pauline Martinson, executive director of ILACSD.
Interested individuals, groups and businesses can help improve our ocean’s health year-round by volunteering to adopt a beach. Since 1999, ILACSD has organized the countywide Adopt-A-Beach program. “Adopters” commit to cleaning a selected beach or inland area three times a year. ILACSD provides all the necessary supplies as well as sign recognition in most areas. To learn more visit www.adoptsd.org or call 1-800-237-BLUE.
Download the 2009 press release here
Download the 2008 press release here
A special thanks
For our sponsors and donors from the 15th Annual Ocean Day Kids’ Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up:
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