Coast cleanup date announced

Mountaineers interested in helping to clean up the coastline can now mark their spring calendar. The annual Washington Coast Cleanup will be held on April 26 this year.

Every year, volunteers from around the state set out on the Coast Cleanup day, and some over the weekend, to pick up debris from Washington’s coastline. Often, small groups of Mountaineers organize trips to the Olympic Coast on this day to help out.

Plastic water bottles, fishing nets, tires, and all kinds of other items harmful to the environment wash up on Washington’s beaches all year, creating the need to be removed before they cause irreparable damage to countless marine mammals, fi sh, plants, and birds. Last year, over 800 volunteers removed more than 25 tons of debris, according to Jan Clippert, who helps organize the event.

The annual cleanup is now the signature event of a new, year-round program called CoastSavers. The CoastSavers program is being coordinated and supported by the newly formed Washington Clean Coast Alliance, a dedicated group of nonprofits, community groups, tribal organizations, and government agencies all working together to help clean up Washington’sbeaches.

The Coast Cleanup now hosts a website on which volunteers may sign up to help: www.WashingtonCoastCleanup.org. For more details about the overall event, contact program coordinator David Lindau, davidl@coastsavers.org, 206-220-4279.