Volunteers Gather Garbage at the Wedge

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Sara Hall
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About 50 volunteers headed out to the Wedge on Saturday, picking up Styrofoam, cigarette butts and other trash while hundreds of visitors watched the giant waves.

The Wedge Beautification Project was organized by the Balboa Peninsula Point Association, assisted by ZeroTrash Inc., a Laguna Beach-based nonprofit organization dedication to cleaning up the trash in communities. The event was a special project within ZeroTrash’s First Saturday program.

Balboa Peninsula Point Association board member, Jeff Dole, said that the group was raising awareness for their cause just by being there. And, thanks to the waves and all the spectators they attracted, the clean-up crew connected with close to 2,000 people.

 Read the story about the project here.

A few of the ZeroTrash First Saturday, Wedge Beautification Project volunteers pose with their sign before heading out to gather garbage.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Eric Chevalier picks up a piece of Styrofoam from the sand. Bits of Styrofoam are hard to spot on the beach because from a distance they look like broken shells, he said.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Balboa Peninsula Point Association board member Jeff Dole picks up a piece of trash as hundreds of spectators watch the waves at the Wedge on Saturday.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
ZeroTrash founder Chip McDermott hands out litter collecting equipment to a volunteer.. ZeroTrash volunteers have been cleaning up the Peninsula the first Saturday of every month for about a year and a half, McDermott said, but this was the first time they had focused on the Wedge.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Eric Chevalier, a peninsula local who started the Newport Beach chapter of ZeroTrash First Saturday, passes a piece of trash to Jacquelyn Umof of Manhatten Beach while cleaning up the Wedge and surrounding streets.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
An overflowing garbage can is just part of the problem, volunteers said.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Eric Chevalier picks cigarette butts out of a tree planter box near the Wedge on Saturday. They usually find a lot of cigarettes, plastic bags and Styrofoam, he said.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Mom Jennifer Coope and her daughters Devon, 12, and Charlotte, 8, help clean up the wedge. It was their first time volunteering for ZeroTrash. Devon earned community service hours for her school.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
Balboa Peninsula Point Association board member Jeff Dole gathers garbage in an effort to clean up the Wedge. Dole said about 50 volunteers helped out on Saturday.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
A heap of trash bags collected from the wedge and the nearby streets sit in a pile after Saturday’s event.
— Photo by Sara Hall ©
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