This Saturday morning we'll be participating in Coastal Cleanup Day from 9am to noon. I know Julian will be excited...he loves to collect things and put them in containers.

If you didn't know about it, check it out. It's really easy and makes a substantial difference. Last year 912,147 pounds of trash were picked up all over California in three hours!

You don't need to live near the beach...creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, etc. all need cleaning up...in fact they actually need more help cleaning up creeks, rivers and streams because there tends to be more trash there and fewer volunteers. Inland trash flows downstream and ends up on the beach eventually.

Sign up at the website linked above. When you check in at the cleanup location, you will be given trash bags, pencils, and a special data card to tally the items you collect.

Your data goes into the Ocean Conservancy’s international database, which is used to identify the sources of debris and to help devise solutions to the marine debris problem.

If you're reading this and you're not in California, well it's actually International Coastal Cleanup Day. So no matter where you are you can still take part.