15,000 Expected to Clean L.A. Beaches this Weekend, Are You One of Them?

View Coastal Cleanup Day 2009 Sites in a larger map

Whether you live in the Valley or near the coast, we are all connected. That piece of trash sitting in an Encino curb could easily be swept into the storm drain system or L.A. River, traveling to the beach and into the Pacific Ocean.

This Saturday, Heal the Bay and other organizations hope for 15,000 volunteers at more than 70 inland and beach locations for the 25th annual international Coastal Cleanup Day (and the 19th for the event to happen locally).

"We usually amass more than 40 tons of trash from L.A. beaches, streets, parks, watersheds, etc.," explained Matthew King, Heal the Bay's spokesperson, in an e-mail. Last year's event marked the cumulative one-millionth pound of trash collected since the event began locally in 1990.