Newport Beach volunteers joined more than 3,700 people across Orange County on Saturday, Sept. 19, hauling over 40,000 pounds of trash from beaches and waterways during the 42nd annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.

The countywide totals are preliminary and expected to climb as site captains from 36 simultaneous events finish reporting results to Orange County Coastkeeper, the Newport Beach-based nonprofit that coordinated the effort. The California Coastal Commission sponsors the annual event, described as California's largest volunteer cleanup.

Newport Beach hosted several sites. At Upper Newport Bay, one of the largest estuaries in Southern California, OC Parks, the Newport Bay Conservancy and the city organized volunteers along the estuary's 11-mile loop with a goal of removing 10,000 pounds of trash and invasive plants. At least 1,000 volunteers were sought across roughly 12 mini-cleanup stations, with the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center on University Drive serving as the main gathering point, according to OC Parks.

Partners at that site included the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Newport Aquatic Center and Inside the Outdoors, the Orange County Department of Education's environmental education program. More than 10,000 students visit Upper Newport Bay each year through Inside the Outdoors field trips.

Cleanup crews also worked Pirate's Cove in Corona del Mar from 9 to 11:30 a.m. At Newport Landing Whale Watching on Palm Street, volunteers who filled at least half a trash bag received a free child's whale watching pass.

The cleanup fell one day after OC Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Katrina Foley announced an agreement to move 200,000 cubic yards of sand from the Santa Ana River outlet to Newport Beach's eroding shoreline. In a Friday, Sept. 18, press release, Foley called sand a form of infrastructure and urged faster shoreline protection across the county ahead of a predicted El Niño storm season. As we reported Sept. 22, Gov. Newsom's El Niño emergency declaration is speeding permits for that work.

On its results page, Coastkeeper noted the timing is significant. Research shows most marine debris starts as land-based pollution, and heavy El Niño rains could wash street litter into local waterways before winter.

Matt Sylvester, Coastkeeper's communications director, said the cleanup also marked the 50th anniversary of the California Coastal Act, passed in 1976. "Every piece of trash removed today represents a small but meaningful act of care for our waterways and ocean," Sylvester said.

In an Aug. 28 statement promoting the Upper Newport Bay cleanup, Foley noted that one-third of Orange County's tourism economy depends on the ocean economy.

Orange County Coastkeeper hosts its Toast the Coast fundraiser on Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, featuring environmental educator Jason Wise and a silent auction.