Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Seaside Beach trash battle "kinda ongoing"

Machado feels bad for the gulls but worse for trash-strewn beaches.
Machado feels bad for the gulls but worse for trash-strewn beaches.
Place

Cardiff State Beach (Seaside)

2504 S. Coast Highway 101, Solana Beach

You can thank Rob Machado for those new environmentally friendly trash cans along Seaside Beach in Cardiff. Surely, one person already has: the state parks employee responsible for cleaning up the daily mess caused by the old ones. “They were these metal trash cans with no lids, all rusted, and some of them didn’t even have bottoms,” Machado tells the Reader by phone from his Encinitas home. “Every weekend, they would overflow. And then the seagulls would come in and dig all this trash out looking for pieces of sandwich or burrito or whatever, and the trash would just blow everywhere.”

Since 1996, Rob Machado has been among the most visible of pro surfers. His dozen World Championship Tour victories scored him consistently among the top ten for years. Inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame in 2000, Machado also has a star on the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach. In 2004, he started the Rob Machado Foundation to help underwrite various environmental programs. He describes his focus on beach trash with two words: “Kinda ongoing.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

While still in high school in North County, Machado joined the Surfrider Foundation. “One of the first surf classes was involved in beach cleanup and water-testing. Then, back in 1990, I went back to Cardiff Elementary, where I went to school, and they had these 50-gallon drums for trash cans. No recycling. I was just blown away. So we started a recycling program there, and the trash went from eight down to two of those 50-gallon drums a day. The rest was recycled.”

Machado says that getting a recycling program started in a public school was far easier than installing new trash cans at a state-run beach. “Cities are easy. This time, we were dealing with the state, and it’s twice as hard at that level. But the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and we just kept bugging them.”

Past Event

Jason Mraz, John Rzeznik, Run River North

  • Monday, November 11, 2013, 7 p.m.
  • Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Avenue, Solana Beach
  • 21+

Part of the funding needed to design and manufacture the new trash bins came from last year’s RMF benefit concert. On Monday, November 11, the Belly Up will host the second such benefit show with Jason Mraz, Goo Goo Dolls’ front man John Rzeznik, and Run River North. Machado played rhythm guitar in his own band for a while, too, but says he’s not doing that anymore, partly due to the time commitment to his foundation.

“You can’t just be content with the status quo. When you see things that are horribly wrong, you gotta do something.” But, he admits that there is a dark side to beach cleanup. “I kinda feel bad for the seagulls.” He laughs. “They’ll have to find food somewhere else.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Machado feels bad for the gulls but worse for trash-strewn beaches.
Machado feels bad for the gulls but worse for trash-strewn beaches.
Place

Cardiff State Beach (Seaside)

2504 S. Coast Highway 101, Solana Beach

You can thank Rob Machado for those new environmentally friendly trash cans along Seaside Beach in Cardiff. Surely, one person already has: the state parks employee responsible for cleaning up the daily mess caused by the old ones. “They were these metal trash cans with no lids, all rusted, and some of them didn’t even have bottoms,” Machado tells the Reader by phone from his Encinitas home. “Every weekend, they would overflow. And then the seagulls would come in and dig all this trash out looking for pieces of sandwich or burrito or whatever, and the trash would just blow everywhere.”

Since 1996, Rob Machado has been among the most visible of pro surfers. His dozen World Championship Tour victories scored him consistently among the top ten for years. Inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame in 2000, Machado also has a star on the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach. In 2004, he started the Rob Machado Foundation to help underwrite various environmental programs. He describes his focus on beach trash with two words: “Kinda ongoing.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

While still in high school in North County, Machado joined the Surfrider Foundation. “One of the first surf classes was involved in beach cleanup and water-testing. Then, back in 1990, I went back to Cardiff Elementary, where I went to school, and they had these 50-gallon drums for trash cans. No recycling. I was just blown away. So we started a recycling program there, and the trash went from eight down to two of those 50-gallon drums a day. The rest was recycled.”

Machado says that getting a recycling program started in a public school was far easier than installing new trash cans at a state-run beach. “Cities are easy. This time, we were dealing with the state, and it’s twice as hard at that level. But the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and we just kept bugging them.”

Past Event

Jason Mraz, John Rzeznik, Run River North

  • Monday, November 11, 2013, 7 p.m.
  • Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Avenue, Solana Beach
  • 21+

Part of the funding needed to design and manufacture the new trash bins came from last year’s RMF benefit concert. On Monday, November 11, the Belly Up will host the second such benefit show with Jason Mraz, Goo Goo Dolls’ front man John Rzeznik, and Run River North. Machado played rhythm guitar in his own band for a while, too, but says he’s not doing that anymore, partly due to the time commitment to his foundation.

“You can’t just be content with the status quo. When you see things that are horribly wrong, you gotta do something.” But, he admits that there is a dark side to beach cleanup. “I kinda feel bad for the seagulls.” He laughs. “They’ll have to find food somewhere else.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tiny Home Central isn’t solving the San Diego housing crisis

But it does hope to help fill in the gaps
Next Article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.