Coastal Cleanup 2023

Coastal Cleanup 2023 will be held on Saturday, September 23, and all month long!

This annual litter cleanup event is a great opportunity to invite that friend 👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 you’ve been meaning to catch up with! Most cleanup sites hold their event from 9 a.m. – noon.

If you plan on doing a 🏡 neighborhood cleanup, you pick the time and place at your convenience.

How to Participate

1. Register for a group cleanup site near you at smchealth.org/ccd. Or, if you’re doing a neighborhood cleanup let us know you’re participating by filling out the form here.
2. Download the Clean Swell App on your phone to track the trash you collect.
3. Print and sign the waiver form if you’re going to a group cleanup (waivers provided at the cleanup if you don’t have a printer).
4. Bring bags you’ve collected or a bucket from home to pick up trash (bags provided at the cleanup if you need them).
5. Bring reusable garden gloves (gloves provided at the cleanup if you need them).
6. Wear closed-toe shoes, layers, a hat, and sunscreen.
7. Bring your reusable water bottle.
8. Charge your cell phone to use the Clean Swell App.

Your participation makes a difference 🐬!

Coastal Cleanup 2022 – Calling All Volunteers!

Get your reusable gloves 🧤, buckets, and water bottles 💧 ready! There are two ways to participate in the annual litter cleanup event this September:

1. Join the main event on Saturday, September 17^th from 9 a.m. to noon – San Mateo County is hosting over 50 cleanup sites led by site captains with thousands of volunteers gathering in groups to remove litter before it breaks up into smaller pieces, injures wildlife, or ends up in our waterways 🌊.
   
2. Cleanup all month–long – can’t join the main event? You can still make a difference right outside your doorsteps 🚪. Gather your family and friends, go solo, or bring fido 🐕‍🦺, and pick up litter in your neighborhood throughout September.

If you are looking for an opportunity to help beautify and protect your community, and be inspired by fellow volunteers, register today at smchealth.org/ccd to find a location near you.

Cigarette Butts Recycled into a Bench

The local nonprofit Pacific Beach Coalition has picked up over 1 million littered cigarette butts since 2013. These cigarette butts have been recycled into a park bench located at Mussel Rock Park in Daly City – newly installed in January 2022.

How is a bench made out of cigarette butts? Pacific Beach Coalition sends all their butts to TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Recycling Program. The butts are processed –  the synthetic part of the butt gets melted down, turned into a powder, and mixed into recycled plastic lumber. This lumber can be turned into fencing, decks, benches, and more.

Join Pacific Beach Coalition for their monthly Mussel Rock cleanup where you can rest your butt on a bench made out of butts after you’re done.

For more litter cleanup event options, and resources for residents and businesses looking to get involved in extinguishing cigarette butt litter in the County, visit smchealth.org/cigbutts.  

Coastal Cleanup Day – September 18, 2021

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Coastal Cleanup Day is back in action to the way it was before COVID-19. This
litter cleanup event will be in-person, with site captains and volunteers following the most current San Mateo County Health Order at all times. Grab your buckets, gloves, and loved ones, and enjoy a return to normalcy by gathering with others once again to make a difference in your community.

On Saturday, September 18, 2021, from 9 a.m. to noon, San Mateo County is hosting over 50 cleanup sites and thousands of volunteers gathering in groups to divert and recycle litter to prevent it from ending up in our ocean as pollution.

This is a welcome change from last year where COVID-19 safety requirements only permitted households to clean up their local neighborhoods. While Coastal Cleanup 2020 was a great way to get outside during the pandemic, multiple veteran volunteers stated it “just wasn’t the same. There is a sense of coming together as a community that motivates and inspires people.”

If you are looking for an opportunity to help beautify and protect your community, and be inspired by fellow volunteers, register today at smchealth.org/ccd to find a location near you.

Butts in the Bay or on the Beach Bugging You?

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Cigarette butts are made of plastic and do not biodegrade.

Cigarette butts that are dropped or flicked away as litter can easily be blown or washed into storm drains that lead directly into waterways without filtration.

Be a Cigarette Butt Litter Leader:

1. Request and give FREE pocket and auto ashtrays to friends and family who smoke to remind them to bin their butts. Email pollutionprevention@smcgov.org or call/text (650) 388-2646 to request one today.
   
2. Help pick up these tiny, toxic pieces of litter by participating in litter cleanup events, like Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 18, 2021! Visit smchealth.org/ccd for more information.
   
3. Call, text, or email us if you see a cigarette butt litter hot spot area in need of some attention.

For more information on cigarette butt litter reduction in San Mateo County visit smchealth.org/cigbutts.

Coastal Cleanup Day, Saturday, September 21st

Calling All Volunteers!

Do you ever see litter on the road and want to do something about it? Now’s your chance! Join 5,000+ volunteers in San Mateo County on Saturday, September 21st from 9 a.m. to Noon and help stop litter on our streets from becoming ocean pollution on Coastal Cleanup Day.

Coastal Cleanup Day is an annual waterway and land cleanup that is celebrating its 35th birthday as the largest cleanup event in the State!

Why You Should Volunteer:

• Improve your community by cleaning up and protecting the environment and wildlife.

• Build connections with different individuals and organizations participating.

• Make a difference and help remove commonly littered items such as cigarette butts, plastic bags, food wrappers, and bottles.

• There are over 40 cleanup locations that include beaches, creeks, waterways, parks, and neighborhoods throughout the County.

• Volunteers will receive a 20% off Sports Basement coupon (while supplies last).

• A perfect event to attend with your family, friends, or co-workers.

• All volunteers who bring a reusable bucket, gloves, mug, or water bottle get a stainless steel reusable straw and cleaner! (While supplies last)

• Select Cleanup sites are participating in Pacific Beach Coalition’s Butt Blitz so that all of the toxic, plastic, smelly cigarette butts you pick up will be recycled.  

Coastal Cleanup Captain Spotlight: Realtor by Day, Litter Hero by Weekend

“Everyone gains a better
understanding of watershed education when creeks, bays, and
inland areas are included in Coastal Cleanup Day activities.”
— Davena Gentry,
Bedwell Bayfront Park Coastal Cleanup Day Site Captain

Davena Gentry has been keeping the Bay clean at Bedwell Bayfront Park in Menlo Park for the past five years. As a realtor by day, Davena incorporates her love for the environment into her career, and has earned a Green Designation from the National Association of Realtors. She enjoys educating children about how litter flows downstream, where it often originates in creeks and streams before reaching the Bay and ocean.

Join Davena and many other earth heroes on Coastal Cleanup Day – Saturday, September 16th. Visit smchealth.org/ccd to find one of the 30 Bay or coast cleanup sites in San Mateo County!

2016 Coastal Cleanup Day is Another Success!

Volunteers at Poplar Beach in Half Moon Bay ready for a cleanup.

Last Saturday thousands of volunteers showed up in San Mateo County to clean up litter on shorelines, beaches, parks and neighborhoods in honor of Coastal Cleanup Day.

From Brisbane all the way down to Pescadero, over 3,871 volunteers of all ages showed how much of a difference one event can make. In just three hours volunteers collected an estimated 22,299 pounds of trash and 3,754 pounds of recyclables from over 33 sites on the bayside and coast by climbing hills and even wading through water! For a few volunteers it was worth it because they were lucky enough to uncover a few of the most unusual items of the day, such as a backpack full of crabs in Half Moon Bay and an old police radio in Burlingame.

Get Ready for the 32nd Annual Coastal Cleanup Day

There are over 30 locations in San Mateo County to help clean up!

Join us on September 17th 9am-Noon to participate in California’s largest volunteer event that helps clean up and protect our beaches, shorelines, creeks, neighborhoods and parks in San Mateo County. These locations have historically been collection spots for trash and debris, and if not removed, can be harmful to marine wildlife and human health.

 

Coastal Cleanup Day a Huge Success

Volunteers at Mirada Surf in El Granada.

Once again, San Mateo County residents came out by the thousands to clean up trash around the county on Coastal Cleanup Day, which took place Saturday, September 19. Residents on both the coast and bayside of the county slogged through sand, waded through mud, and climbed hillsides with buckets and bags, trash pickers and gloves, and a whole lot of spirit. Young and old participated as groups of friends and families turned out to make a difference in three short hours on the hot and sunny day.