Crescent Elk Middle School students fan out to look for trash along Kellogg Beach during a September 2012 cleanup. Del Norte Triplicate / Bryant Anderson

But Del Norte County students are getting a head start on Friday. Theyll work on Saturday and next weekend too, said Crescent Elk Middle School teacher Joe Gillespie, who has coordinated the local California Coastal Cleanup effort for more than 20 years.

Students from Smith River School will pick trash up from the Oregon border to the mouth of the Smith River. Redwood School will take Kellogg Beach. Crescent Elk seventh-graders will cover the beach from Lake Earl to Point St. George.

On Saturday, students in Bill Andersons science class at Del Norte High School will clean up the area from Point St. George to Garths Beach across from Castle Rock. Next Friday, Joe Hamilton Elementary School students will cover all of Pebble Beach while Mary Peacock students scour the shore from 5th Street to Battery Point and from Elk Creek to Battery Point.

Gillespie said more Crescent Elk students will cover Elk Creek to Enderts Point. But he will welcome volunteers who want to clean from Anchor Way at the Crescent City Harbor to the Beachcomber restaurant to the south.

They can just bring their own bags, he said.

Last year, students picked up an estimated 3,500 pounds of trash from Del Norte beaches, Gillespie said. This includes items from boats such as buoys, floats, crates, fishing lines, pallets, fishing nets, rope, fishing lures and bait containers or packaging. Sometimes the students will find appliances, car parts and tires on the beach.

At other times, theyll come across medical waste such as syringes and personal hygiene items like diapers and tampons.

We have gloves, and they are instructed not to pick (the syringes) up, Gillespie said.

The Coastal Commission awards two $100 prizes for the most unusual items found along the coast and along the states inland waterways, Gillespie said.

Originally posted here:

Students comb beaches for trash