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Father of Long Beach’s 30-Minute Beach Cleanup.
Justin Rudd was teaching a boot camp fitness class on the beach in Long Beach, California, when he realized how many piles of trash he’d jumped over during the hour-long session.
“I wanted to do something about it,” he said.
So when the class ended, he asked his students to stay for a half hour and help him clean up the beach. About a dozen did – and the 30-Minute Beach Cleanup was born.
This June, the cleanup marked its 24th anniversary. Rudd, who went on to form the Community Action Team, a non-profit that organizes various community-building events in Long Beach, has hosted a cleanup every month during those twenty-four years, except for the two months early in the COVID-19 pandemic when the beaches were closed.
For Rudd, it’s a labor of love. “I like keeping the beach clean and safe,” he said, “and I love exposing youth and adults to volunteerism.”
Number of beach cleanups Rudd’s nonprofit has hosted: 286
Number of volunteers at each cleanup: 150 to 225
Amount of trash removed from the beach at each cleanup: At least half a dumpster
Most common item cleaned up: Small Styrofoam bits and other small plastic pieces. “We used to pick up hundreds of cigarette butts, but now that smoking is illegal at the beach, that number is way down,” Rudd said.
Most unusual items picked up: A goat’s head, a Target shopping cart, and a fire extinguisher
