California Coastal Clean-Up Day presented by the California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market

The California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market are proud to announce that the 24th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day will take place on Saturday, September 20th, from 9 am to Noon at over 750 locations around the state. Volunteers will clean trash and debris from 1,100 miles of the California coast as well as another 1,000 miles along the inland shorelines of bays, creeks, rivers, and lakes throughout California.

The 2008 Cleanup will look to build on the success of last year’s event, when 61,112 volunteers turned out to remove just under 1 million pounds of debris – the largest Cleanup in California’s history. The 2007 Cleanup not only eclipsed the previous record for volunteer turnout by more than 20 percent, but was also the largest Cleanup in terms of geographic reach. 48 of California’s 58 counties participated in the 2007 Cleanup. The Coastal Commission has been working to steadily expand the effort; data gathered from cleanups in the past few years reveal the need to continue this expansion. 60 to 80 percent of the debris found on California’s beaches originates from inland or urban areas and washes out to the ocean.

“California Coastal Cleanup Day is among the largest of many efforts that the state undertakes to safeguard our coast and ocean,” said Eben Schwartz, Statewide Director of the Cleanup. “The key to the success of the Coastal Cleanup Day, though, is the dedication of the volunteers who give their time and effort to this cause. Cleanup volunteers not only help remove debris from our state’s beaches and waterways; they also take away a powerful message of the need to prevent pollution year-round.”

Participation grew so much last year, and the message continues to reach more people this year in large part due to the Cleanup Program’s partnership with Whole Foods Market, the presenting sponsor for California Coastal Cleanup Day. On September 25, Whole Foods Market will donate five percent of its sales from the day from all of their Northern California stores to the Coastal Cleanup Day Program. Throughout the summer, Whole Foods Market has made customers and team members aware of this effort through in-store marketing campaigns and educational materials. “This partnership has grounded our efforts in the many communities where Whole Foods Market has stores by mobilizing team members and customers. Our volunteer numbers were up over 20 percent last year thanks to this incredible support. Heightened awareness will help expand our efforts even more this year,” said Judi Shils, Marketing Director for the California Coastal Cleanup Day Program.

“The partnership between Whole Foods Market and the California Coastal Cleanup Day Program speaks well to one of our company’s Core Values: Caring About Our Communities and Our Environment. We are excited to be working side by side with our customers and vendor partners on this project to protect our shorelines and give back to the environment as a whole. In 2007, we were thrilled to have raised $85,000 to benefit this important environmental cause and look forward to topping that number this September,” says Danny Olivas, executive marketing coordinator for Whole Foods Market, Northern California Region.

The Cleanup Program is enjoying a new major partnership this year with Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water. “CG Roxane LLC, producers of Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, is proud to be a sponsor of California Coastal Cleanup Day. CG Roxane has made environmental stewardship a priority in its company business model. Working together with partners such as the California Coastal Cleanup Program will help to continue to beautify and preserve the state of California,” said Ronan Papillaud, President & CEO of CG Roxane LLC.

California Coastal Cleanup Day is the kickoff to COASTWEEKS, a three-week long celebration of California’s coastal resources. The Coastal Commission is sponsoring an online calendar of events taking place throughout the state during this period. Volunteers are encouraged to contact the California Coastal Commission in order to sign up for Coastal Cleanup Day 2008 or to find out about
COASTWEEKS events. Please contact the Commission at (800) COAST-4U or visit our website at www.coastforyou.org.

The statewide event is presented by the California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market® with major statewide support from long-standing partner, Oracle and new statewide partner Crystal Geyser. Regional participation from Whole Foods Market vendor team including Nature’s Path, Organic Valley, Natracare, Barney’s Butter, Pop Chips, and Aubrey Organics. Other sponsors include KPMG, See’s Candies, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and Peet’s Coffee and Tea.

Northern California media sponsors include partner Alice Radio and KPIX/CW Bay Area TV. Northern California media support also comes from the San Francisco Department of the Environment, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Marin County Board of Supervisors, and the City of Santa Rosa.

Southern California media sponsors include KCAL-TV and KCBS-TV.

California Coastal Cleanup Day 2008 is supported by the California Coastal Commission, California State Parks Foundation, and the Ocean Conservancy. This event is made possible by the hard work of hundreds of local non-profits and government agencies throughout the state and tens of thousands of volunteers annually.