500 pounds of trash cleared from Sandy Beach

Solar technology company RevoluSun and the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation’s Oahu Chapter collected more than 500 pounds of trash from Sandy Beach during a cleanup Saturday.

It was the sixth year that the two hosted a cleanup at Sandy Beach. Organizers say that in those six years, volunteers collected about 5,400 pounds of trash from the beach.

Volunteers helped clean debris from bonfires.

The Surfrider Foundation’s beach cleanup coordinator, Mary Finley, said in a news release that pallet bonfire pits are a problem at Sandy Beach.

"This stretch of beach is prime resting territory for our endangered monk seals, so when they come ashore to rest and the place is covered in burnt wood and hundreds of pounds of rusty nails and staples, it becomes an unsafe area for them," Finley said.

The cleanup lasted two hours, with hundreds of volunteers removing trash, including cigarette butts, bottle caps and lunch containers. Organizers say volunteers also scooped up plastic bags, batteries, fishing nets and rope, packaging material, condoms and drug paraphernalia.