SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Many of us spent the 4th of July celebrating with family and friends, outside or, especially in California, at the beach.
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Now, the day after, comes a massive cleanup and environmentalists are growing concerned as the waste piles up each year.
"So many people go to the beach to celebrate the 4th of July that we see typically a huge influx of trash as a result," said Jennifer Savage, Senior Manager at the Surfrider Foundation’s Plastic Pollution Initiative told KCBS Radio's Kathy Novak.
Just last year, 1,259 volunteers with the foundation's San Francisco chapter cleaned up more than 3,872 pounds of garbage off the city's beaches, according to an op-ed Savage wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday.
Along with the typical trash used for these types of celebrations, like plastic cups and utensils, plates, etc., the 4th of July also accumulates a substantial amount of firework detritus.
The Surfrider Foundation volunteers picked up more than 1,100 spent fireworks last year nationally, Savage wrote.
That trash often then winds up in the already much-polluted ocean that many are struggling to clean up.
According to Savage, the biggest change has to come from the source.
"There's a lot of emphasis on individual responsibility and changes that we can make in our day-to-day lives, and that's important, of course," she said.
"I think we should all try to do our part to make the best world we can in all the different ways," Savage added. "But when it comes to plastic pollution we need to stop making so much single-use plastic."
A new California bill might provide a pivotal step in the right direction, requiring producers to reduce single-use plastic packaging by 25% in the next 10 years.
Introduced by Sen. Ben Allen of Southern California, SB54 just passed last week. Along with the reduction of single-use plastics, the bill also requires additional support to go to communities most affected by this type of pollution.
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