Mission Bay cleanup aims to top 900 pounds of trash

Zoom in: The event is a joint effort from I Love a Clean San Diego and Cox Enterprises, and draws more than 400 volunteers.

• Cox employees get paid for the day but are enthusiastic about the work, Steve Morris, executive director of I Love a Clean San Diego, told Axios.

"It's the quality of volunteers that always impresses me, because they're actually there to do the work," he said. "Some groups will spend about 30 minutes, and then they'll all kind of socialize, but this group is out there going under bridges, and they're finding heavy things."

Inside the trash bags: Most of what volunteers find are small things, like single-use plastics and cigarette butts, Morris said.

Volunteers also do smaller cleanups around the county, but Mission Bay is one of the biggest because there's so much space to spread out, he said.

Disclosure: Axios is owned by Cox Enterprises.