Community members of all ages gathered Saturday for Coastal Clean Up Day, an annual event where people from around the region get their hands dirty and pick up litter and eradicate invasive plant species. 

Bit-by-bit, Pacifica became more beautiful.

Civic and environmental leaders pitched in: Lynn Adams, president of the Pacifica Beach Coalition, Sue Digre, former Mayor of Pacifica and current City Council member, and 3rd District San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley visited many of the cleanup sites throughout the day.

Local schools did their part, too. Terra Nova High School faculty member Jane Gerughty and more than 30 students plus a gaggle of Ingrid B. Lacy Middle School students collected mounds of litter.

“IBL students team[ed] up with parents and volunteers from the neighborhood to cleanup every street in West Sharp Park from Paloma to Clarendon and from Beach Boulevard to Francisco,” said Adams. “After they were done the mood was happy because they had something to cheer about.”

Not all volunteers were so young, however.

Rugger Ardizoia, the oldest volunteer at 92, recorded the results (in terms of number of bags of garbage) from all of the Pacifica sites.

“And he doesn't make mistakes,” Adams said.

Here are some stats from Coastal Cleanup Day, courtesy of the Pacifica Beach Coalition:

• 1,075 volunteers at 31 sites in Pacifica
• 2,000 lbs. of litter collected
• 316 lbs. of recyclables collected
• 800 lbs. of greenwaste collected during Pacifica (Linda Mar) State Beach habitat restoration.

Every year volunteers will find some surprising and even weird trash.

On Saturday, one volunteer, a Terra Nova High School student, found a tire stuck deep within the creek.

Lynn Adams said this year brought the strangest piece of garbage she’s seen in her ten years cleaning up Pacifica.

“What is a fuel filter separator?” she asked. “We are finding out after it was picked up at Sharp Park Beach. Apparently it separates fuel from air and is used for tools. Definitely the most unusual item we've had in my ten years.”

Most of the time, however, the trash is just gross. More than 500 cigarette butts had been retrieved from the ground in the first hour of cleanup.

Supervisor Don Horsley commended the Pacifica volunteers for their work.

"This is a very important event for everyone in San Mateo County, pardon me, the entire state of California," he said. "Picking up trash, taking care of our environment is incredibly important to all of us; it's important for us to educate the general public about the effect human litter has on our ecosystem."

As the group visited more and more sites the amount of collected waste grew and grew. At every stop Adams passed out pocket ashtrays and portable pet waste bags to participants, telling them to share the knowledge about littering and its damaging effects on the environment.

The day ended with a celebration at Rockaway Beach with cool refreshments and fellowship. Many who volunteered found their way there to enjoy the festivities and sit back and admire a more clean and healthy coast.

The Pacifica Beach Coalition will be doing some more cleaning during Fog Fest on Sept. 24-25. You can be part of the Green Team at Fog Fest, too.

For more information look it up online on its website or call 650-355-1668.

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Thanks to Lynn Adams for providing some of the photos in the gallery to the right.