Locals Help Clean Up California Beaches

Local beaches are much cleaner thanks to thousands of volunteers who joined together to remove trash from beaches up and down the coast.

During the annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, volunteers cleaned up a lot of cigarette butts at East Beach in Santa Barbara.

“It’s such a filthy habit, but if you got to do it, recycle or throw them away in appropriate spots,” said Karen Pretchel, a clean up volunteer.

Nearly every local beach had a clean up effort, including those in Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.

According to one estimate, last year volunteers collected more than 700,000 lbs. of debris from California shorelines.