By land and by sea, Alamedans will clean their shoreline during the 24th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday.

The event usually brings out several hundred local volunteers each year who join tens of thousands of Californians in beautifying coastal and inland waters throughout the state. Last year, more than 60,000 volunteers collected some 900,000 pounds of trash statewide, according to the Coastal Cleanup Day Web site.

Locally, the effort is very strong, organizers say.

“It seems people here in Alameda like to clean all the time,” said Trini Blumkin, recreation coordinator for the city’s Recreation and Parks Department. “We have a long stretch of beach and lots of trails and people are really conscious. ”... Alameda is unique in that way.”

Last year, some 300 volunteers collected 1,005 pounds of trash around Crab Cove. This year, the effort will focus on the recently opened Alameda Point Trail near the USS Hornet and the bird sanctuary at the end of Broadway at Shoreline Drive.

People of all ages are encouraged to attend the family-friendly event. Thanks to advertising on the Coastal Cleanup Day Web site, the city already has received interest from residents from around the Bay Area, including San Francisco and San Rafael, Blumkin said.

For the first time this year, locals will clean from the sea: Local boaters the Alameda Dragon Flyers and a Kaiser Permanente-sponsored boating group have volunteered to trawl the waters off-shore for litter.

Volunteers can expect to find everyday litter such as cigarette butts, aluminum cans and plastic bags, as well as discarded tires and syringes. Last year volunteers even found a plastic toilet tank, said program specialist Laurie Stoerkel of the city Public Works Department.

These pollutants — in addition to prescription medications that leach into domestic wastewater flows when not properly disposed of — threaten the flora and fauna found on Alameda’s coast, including seagulls, cormorants, pelicans and wading birds.

The local effort kicks off at 9 a.m. Saturday at 2226 Santa Clara Ave. and concludes at noon. Sponsors include the city, the East Bay Regional Park District and Alameda County Industries. In addition to a small snack, participants will receive a commemorative “back-sack” — a draw-string pouch made from recycled water bottles — in exchange for their help. Volunteers are asked to wear sturdy clothes and pre-register if possible at the city’s Web site, www.ci.alameda.ca.us, or by calling Blumkin at 747-7586.