by Krystal Paco

GUAM - For the last 19 years, island residents have volunteered their time to pick up trash along the island's beaches and come Saturday, over 3,000 are expected to show up bright and early at 19 sites throughout the island.

One site, Oka Point in Tamuning, is a popular lookout for locals, but also a popular dumping ground for their trash.

Guam EPA Spokesperson Tammy Jo Anderson Taft explained, "The reason this site is really important is the ocean is literally ten feet away so anything that's dropped here can easily blow into the ocean and its almost impossible to get it back once its in the ocean."

And unlike other cleanups, taft says participants will also collect data,"One of the main differences between Coastal Cleanup and other cleanups is that they have a data sheet and they actually write the things that they pick up, and so there's little tally marks and what they do every year is they tally up how many pounds of trash they pick up and also the different types. That helps to look at possibly where the trash is coming from and other measures that we could take to stop it form becoming marine debris."

Among the top found items from prior cleanups at sites island wide: Over 18,000 beverage cans, 10,000 cigarette butts, 5,000 plastic bags and a combined 20,000 glass and plastic beverage bottles.

"Even if you can only contribute an hour its better than nothing. We encourage everybody of all ages, shapes, and abilities to come out and help during Coastal Cleanup to keep the beaches clean. All volunteers get a free t-shirt while supplies last. We've also got bags and gloves for people to use during the cleanup and anyone who participates gets free entrance to Fish Eye. Thanks to them for sponsoring and also $5 admission to Underwater World" Taft added.

For a list of cleanup sites, visit the Guam EPA web site. Show time is 7 a.m. On Saturday, September 21st.