What a way to start the year—check out what Surfrider Ventura County was up to this month at our beach cleanups!
After a hiatus in December due to King Tides, we were back at the Rincon Parkway Day Use Section the second weekend of January. Thanks very much to our 16 volunteers who picked up almost 60 pounds of trash from RRP this month! January's crew included our future ocean stewards—our young Friends of the Ocean walking the entire Rincon Parkway Day Use beach for 2 hours. We appreciate our parents who model care of the ocean for the next generation!
Special thank you to our Executive team members Brita, Rachel, and Ormond Lagoon Program Lead Joan Tharp, for providing extra assistance.
The ocean creates the oxygen living things need to live, including taking in carbon and wildfire emissions and transforming what we cannot breathe into what we do need to breathe. Removing beach trash and other detriments is one step toward empowering our health for the future.
Unfortunately, the Rincon Parkway is experiencing potential impacts from sea level rise. Starting in the spring of 2025, the 101 Ventura Highway Bridge at the State Beaches exit will be closed for two years to address the bridge's structural integrity. This closure will affect the program's operations and public access moving forward. Read more about how RRP is being impacted in this blog post by Joy Downing Riley, RRP's Program Lead and email RRP@ventura.surfrider.org with questions.
Join us at RRP the second Saturday of January!
This month, our 17 incredible volunteers picked up 185 pounds of trash from the beach, dunes, and along the lagoon at Ormond! Many thanks to our dedicated Ormond volunteers who keep showing up for a better and cleaner Ormond.
Our volunteers put on their walking shoes, making the trek out to the lagoon outfall and picking up trash along the way. We are never surprised by the kind of trash items we find at Ormond, this month's haul including giant metal scraps and an entire refrigerator door.
Ormond Core Volunteer Steve Biddle holding up his unique trash findings.
The walk out gave us a chance to scout for next month's cleanup location, and we're set on Lot C once again. In February, we plan to get further down the beach and target where the trash collects towards the end of the lagoon. Using a UTV, we'll haul as much trash out as possible before any potential rains come and wash the trash onto the beach or out to sea.
See you next month at Ormond!
On Jan. 25, 83 community volunteers came out on this chilly winter Saturday morning before the first rain of the season and removed 135 pounds of trash, 7 pounds of recycling, and 2,750 cigarette butts from the Ventura Promenade and beaches. Many thanks to them and the 8 core volunteers who ran the cleanup!
Show the beach some love at our next cleanup on February 22 from 9am-11am. There is bound to be more trash after the rain that finally came!
There are two separate required waivers for this cleanup. Pre-registration is highly recommended.
City of Ventura waiver (Smartwaiver): https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/e/advbXsRszASGfag4tgZXwT/
Surfrider (Golden): https://x.gldn.io/e/1S5bIZgvsQb
Private Cleanup with St. Mary Magdalen's 6th Grade Class - January 28th
St. Mary Magdalen's 6th Grade Class and our future ocean stewards!
We were excited to once again host St. Mary Magdalen students for their annual beach cleanup at C Street! Following a regularly scheduled C Street cleanup the weekend prior, we were surprised to have found mounds of trash, potentially washed to the beach from the recent rain event or the super high tides.
Whatever the cause, the 30 students removed 85 pounds of trash from the beach and promenade—and even ensured an entangled bird was reported to the correct authorities. It's always exciting to see what our future ocean stewards are capable of, and they never disappoint!
We are available to host private cleanups with youth/school groups on a limited basis. For more information, please email AAlejo@ventura.surfrider.org.