California Coastal Cleanup Day Presented by the California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market Saturday, September 15th, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market are proud to announce that the 23rd Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day will take place on Saturday, September 15th, from 9 am to Noon at over 700 locations around the state. Volunteers will clean trash and debris from 1,100 miles of the California coast as well as another 1,000 miles along the inland shorelines of bays, creeks, rivers, and lakes throughout California.

The 2007 Cleanup will look to build on the success of last year's event, when 56,273 volunteers turned out to remove just under 1 million pounds of debris from California's shorelines - the largest single event in the Cleanup's history. The Coastal Commission has been working to steadily expand the Cleanup for years now. Data gathered from cleanups in the past few years reveal the need to continue this expansion, as the Coastal Commission estimates that 60 to 80 percent of the debris found on California's beaches originates from inland or urban areas and washes out to the ocean. New efforts by California's government to stem this tide of trash have placed even greater importance on the growth of the Cleanup.

"California Coastal Cleanup Day has long been the state's largest volunteer event," said Eben Schwartz, Statewide Director of the Cleanup. "Recent actions by our state government have challenged us to build even further on this success. The California Ocean Protection Council recently passed a Resolution on Marine Debris that calls on the Coastal Commission to expand our coastal and watershed cleanups. We are taking this challenge to heart, and expect this year's Cleanup to be our biggest ever."

Part of this expansion will come as a result of a new partnership with Whole Foods Market, the presenting sponsor for California Coastal Cleanup Day. On June 19th, Whole Foods Market donated 5 percent of the proceeds from all of their California stores to the Coastal Cleanup Day Program. Throughout June and July, Whole Foods customers and team members voted in store for sites they would like to see added to this coming Coastal Cleanup Day. The sites are now listed on posters that will hang in each Whole Foods Market during August and September. "This partnership has grounded our efforts in more than 40 stores located in many counties throughout the state. The heightened awareness these efforts will bring during the summer months will help to expand our efforts in communities in and around Whole Foods Market locations. It is a fantastic opportunity for individual communities to truly make a difference in caring for our shorelines and ocean," said Judi Shils, Marketing Director for the California Coastal Cleanup Day Program.

"The partnership between Whole Foods Market and the California Coastal Cleanup Day Program speaks well to one of our five Core Values: Caring About Our Communities and Our Environment. We are excited to be working within our communities, side by side with our customers and vendor partners on this project to protect our shorelines and give back to the environment as a whole. We believe that together we can make a difference," says Jolyn Bibb, Regional Marketing Director, Whole Foods Market, Northern California Region.

California Coastal Cleanup Day is the kickoff to COASTWEEKS, a three-week long celebration of California's coastal resources. The Coastal Commission is sponsoring an on-line calendar of events taking place throughout the state during this period. Volunteers are encouraged to contact the California Coastal Commission in order to sign up for Coastal Cleanup Day 2007 or to find out about COASTWEEKS events. Please contact the Commission at (800) COAST-4U or visit our Web site at http://www.coast4u.org.

The statewide event is presented by the California Coastal Commission and Whole Foods Market(R) with major statewide support from long-standing partner, Oracle and new statewide partner Gaiam. Regional participation from KPMG, See's Candies, Peet's Coffee and Tea, and Whole Foods Market vendor team, Dr. Bronner's, Nature's Path, Zola Acai, Clover Organics, Natracare, Clif Bar, and Atkins Ranch.

Northern California media sponsors include partner Alice Radio and supporters KPIX/ CW Bay Area TV, and San Francisco Magazine.

Southern California media sponsors include KCAL-TV and KCBS-TV.

California Coastal Cleanup Day 2007 is supported by the California Coastal Commission, California State Parks Foundation, and the Ocean Conservancy. This event is made possible by the hard work of hundreds of local non-profits and governmental agencies throughout the state and 50,000 volunteers annually.

For more information, contact us at (800) COAST-4U or coast4u@coastal.ca.gov. Join us on Saturday, September 17, from 9 a.m. to Noon for the 21st Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.

Contact Information
Mailing address:
California Coastal Commission
Public Education Department
45 Fremont St.
San Francisco, CA 94105-2219
Email:Coast4u@coastal.ca.gov Phone:(800) Coast4u [1-800-262-7848] (415) 904-5200
FAX (415) 904-5216






CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME -- "One's own family (or country, etc.) comes before any other responsibilities. The idea of the proverb can be found in the Bible. The proverb dates back to the time of the Roman comic playwright Terence (about 190-159 BC). In 1383, John Wycliffe wrote: 'Charity should begin at himself.' Five hundred years later Dickens said that 'Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.' First attested in the United States in the 'Winthrop Papers' (1628).'." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).


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