When I was in third grade, I remember flipping through the Guinness Book of World Records with one of my best friends and wondering how we could get our names into that famed book. We certainly didn't have any abnormal physical traits or brute strength to work with---we were just your average nine-year-olds. And after calculating that we could never make the world's largest brownie in our families' standard-sized ovens, we gave up (rather quickly) on our momentary dream and went back to playing hop scotch.

Fast forward twenty-something years and I think I've found a way to get us into that record book after all. For almost 26 years, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) has sponsored Coastal Cleanup Day. Last year, over 80,000 people came out to collect 1.3 million pounds of trash and recyclable materials from California's beaches, lakes, and rivers. That's A LOT of trash, right? The Guinness Book of World Records thought so, too, which is why they declared this event as "the largest garbage collection" (1993).

Even if you've never dreamed of setting a world record, Coastal Cleanup Day will be quite an event. Learn how to volunteer at this year's affair on Saturday, September 25th (9 am - 12 noon). Already got plans? Then participate in nature walks, restoration efforts, and workshops near you on another day or help clean-up our beaches year round through the CCC's Adopt-a-Beach program.

Be sure to check out Algalita Marine Research Foundation's video, Synthetic Sea, too. It'll make the decision to volunteer this Saturday that much easier.

Coastal Cleanup Day, Saturday, September 25th, 2010 - Sponsored by the California Coastal Commission
www.coastal.ca.gov
Learn how to participate at this year's event on 9/25/10

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Image via www.coastal.ca.gov

What were you doing when you were 12 years old? I wasn't doing anything too noteworthy. Best I can recall, I spent most of my summer at the town pool chit-chatting with friends and reading Bop. Not that I didn't have fun. I just didn't have much of an agenda other than myself.

On the other hand, there's my little cousin Chloe. She's a new breed of kid---the kind that already realizes the world needs saving and is willing to roll up her sleeves and do her part. At the same tender age that I was playing Truth or Dare and cutting out pictures of Fred Savage to tape inside my school locker, Chloe is cooking up homemade chutney, tending to her rooftop garden, and thinking up ways she can turn her green ideas into reality.

She just entered the Pepsi Refresh Project with the hopes of obtaining funds so her Montessori school's shuttle bus can run on used restaurant veggie oil.  Her goals are to:

• Convert a diesel mini bus to run on waste restaurant vegetable oil.
• Create a hands-on educational project that will benefit the community.
• Make a real impact by reducing the use of non-sustainable resources.
• Get middle schoolers involved - sustainable energy for a better future. 

This is something I can definitely get on board with---in fact, I already have. Can you? If your answer is a resounding "Yes!", then vote for Chloe's project by texting 102381 to Pepsi (73774). To read all about Chloe's project, click here.

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