South Laguna Community Beach Cleanup

Chris Tebbutt, Realtor, has once again teamed up with ECO-Warrior Foundation for their annual South Laguna Community Beach Cleanup on Saturday, August 12 from 9:00am-12:00pm.

This year, the event will be stationed near the top of the stairs at West Street Beach so that volunteers can pick up supplies and clean up the beach of their choice. ECO-Warrior Foundation will provide free collection bags, gloves and data sheets for volunteers to keep track what what and how much they collected. This data is critical for the team to understand what kinds of trash are having the biggest impact on the beaches. Cigarette butts are among the most commonly found litter on the beaches.

The event will also include free lunch and drinks to all volunteers, a free t-shirt for the first 50 volunteers, along with music, prizes for the “most unusual” and the “most pounds” collected.

Given that South Laguna beaches get hit hard during the summer season, it is important for Tebbutt and partner James Pribram, Founder of ECO-Warrior Foundation, to focus on this area at least once a year.

OC Parks maintains and is responsible for the county beaches in South Laguna.

“We greatly appreciate how hard OC Parks works and understand the pressure they are under to keep up with the constant load, especially during the Summer season. OC Parks is very grateful for our support and are our partners for the South Laguna Community Beach Cleanup,” Tebbutt said.

Not only is the cleanup very much needed due to summer traffic, it is also a community event that involves bringing the local community together to make a difference. Many neighbors come with their children and friends, as well as dedicated volunteers and camp groups from as far away as Riverside and Los Angeles. Many students participate to get volunteer credits for school.

“We aim to make the beach cleanup a positive, community experience. When volunteers come together for a common cause, something special happens. We encourage everyone to come and participate, regardless of who you are or where you live,” Tebbutt said.

Last year on Thousand Steps beach the event had 75 volunteers and collected approximately 500 pounds of trash. The goal this year is to double the amount of volunteers, although the team is not necessarily hoping to find more pounds of garbage on our shores.

“I chose to partner with James for his clear passion and no-nonsense approach for keeping our coastal environments clean. The ECO-Warrior Foundation is all about creating awareness, inspiring people to make a difference, and giving them opportunities to take action. James definitely leads by example and recognizes that it takes a village to make things happen in such a way that people want to show up and help,” Tebbutt said.