On Sunday, Albany Landfill Dog Owners Group held its second beach cleanup this year. Here's the ALDOG release:
Forty-five volunteers picked up about 350 pounds of debris from Albany Beach on Sunday, reports Linda Yoshikawa of Albany Landfill Dog Owners Group, one of the organizers of the cleanup.
“Even though the skies threatened rain, volunteers came and picked up trash, piece by piece. When you consider that most of the garbage is micro-plastic, like bottle caps, plastics the size of your finger and bits of styrofoam, 350 pounds is amazing. The volunteers were incredible,” Yoshikawa said.
Park supervisor Scott Possin of the East Bay Regional Park District, which provided gloves, buckets and worked with ALDOG on the cleanup, estimated the weight, Yoshikawa said.
Three syringes were found in the sand, two with needles. Medical waste routinely washes onto Albany Beach, Yoshikawa said. Possin provided red flags so volunteers could flag such hazards for safe removal.
Volunteers ranged in age from eight to 82 and came from Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Oakland, San Pablo, Kensington, Richmond and Emeryville.
ALDOG, a California Coastal Commission’s Adopt-A-Beach sponsor of Albany Beach, has organized two cleanups this year and collected an estimated 650 pounds of debris. A third cleanup is tentatively planned for December.
“I love this beach,” said Tim Cogley, 55, a Berkeley homeowner, as he stooped over to fill his bucket. “Life doesn’t get any better than tossing a kong, walking along the shore and breathing this air."
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