Celebrate Coastal Cleanup Day on September 16!

Bad news about ocean pollution bringing you down?

The 33rd Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day offers a chance to be a part of the solution—and to celebrate the beauty of our creeks, wetlands and the Bay with fellow volunteers. The event is scheduled for Saturday, September 16, and is expected to draw tens of thousands of participants to over 1,000 locations throughout the state, who will help remove trash from California’s beaches and inland waterways.

Click here to find an event near you!

Additional volunteer opportunities can be found on the statewide event map compiled by the California Coastal Commission.

In 2016, over 4,000 volunteers turned out for the event in Alameda County alone, collecting over 54,000 pounds of trash. Statewide close to 60,000 volunteers participated, ridding California of over 700,000 pounds of trash.

Collecting litter on land, even far from waterways, is critical to helping prevent ocean pollution. That's because the vast majority of debris found in the ocean—up to 80%—originates inland, where it is carried by rainwater, street runoff and wind into the storm drain system. From there litter travels into creeks, the Bay and the ocean, as stormwater generally does not pass through a water treatment plant. Litter—and especially plastic debris—poses a hazard to marine wildlife, entangling and poisoning animals that mistake the items for food.

The Clean Water Program encourages citizens to stop litter at the source by always placing trash in garbage cans or recycling containers, buying reusable instead of disposable products and minimizing packaging as much as possible. Click here to learn more about the impact of litter and everyday actions to prevent it.