Join the 40th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day

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Santa Barbara: Are you passionate about protecting our coastline? Join thousands of volunteers across Santa Barbara County on Saturday, September 21st, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, for Coastal Cleanup Day—a global day of action that empowers people around the world to become part of the solution to ocean pollution.

California’s largest volunteer event, Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) celebrates its 40th birthday this year. In 2023, Californians removed an astounding 188 tons of trash from beaches, inland sites, creeks, and rivers, while in Santa Barbara County, over 1,200 volunteers picked up 2.87 tons of litter. Let’s make the 40th Anniversary of CCD our biggest cleanup yet!

Organized state-wide by the Coastal Commission, Santa Barbara County’s Coastal Cleanup Day is coordinated by Explore Ecology and the County of Santa Barbara Resource Recovery and Waste Management, with support from the Cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Solvang.

“Coastal Cleanup Day may take place on one day of the year, but its impact is so much greater than that,” says the Coastal Commission’s Eben Schwartz, Statewide Director of California Coastal Cleanup Day. “The education that the cleanup provides, as well as the constituency that it has built over these past 40 years, has helped generate new laws and regulations that will stem the sources of our plastic pollution challenge. Volunteers at the cleanup are creating ripples that can be felt throughout the year, and we are so proud to help support their efforts.”

Explore Ecology is grateful to the many community members donating their time as Site Captains, who are in charge of distributing cleanup materials, managing volunteers at local sites, and reporting data after the event.

Site Captain Brian Trautwein, Senior Analyst and Watershed Program Director at the Environmental Defense Center, explains “Participating as a Site Captain during Coastal Cleanup Day 2023 was an incredible experience. We removed 1,653 pounds of trash, recyclables, toxic batteries, and e-waste from San Jose Creek and inspired twenty-two volunteers to get involved in their community by becoming stewards of their coastal watersheds. That’s why the Environmental Defense Center leads creek cleanups every Coastal Cleanup Day and looks forward to this year’s San Jose Creek Cleanup.”

Ready to take action? Visit ExploreEcology/Coastal-Cleanup-Day.org to sign up for your favorite site. By pre-registering, you’ll be automatically entered in a drawing for a chance to win exciting prizes donated by local businesses.

Volunteers are asked to bring their own cleanup materials if possible to reduce waste and decrease the cleanup’s plastic footprint. If volunteers don’t have supplies, there will be plenty available at each site.

This year’s roster of cleanup locations ranges from Carpinteria to Guadalupe:

• Arroyo Burro Beach
• Butterfly Beach
• Campus Point
• Carpinteria State Beach
• Channel Islands- private cleanup
• Devereux
• East Beach- Garden St./Chase Palm Area
• East Beach- Volleyball Courts
• El Capitan State Beach
• Gaviota State Beach
• Goleta Beach
• Hammond’s Beach
• Haskell’s Beach
• Jalama Beach
• Jelly Bowl Beach
• Leadbetter Beach
• North Campus Open Space
• Oak Park
• Refugio State Beach
• Rincon County Beach/Bates
• San Jose Creek
• Santa Claus Lane
• West Beach
• Ellwood Beach
• Hollister Ranch- private cleanup
• Sandspit, Harbor, and Parking Lot
• Guadalupe Dunes
• Lookout Park
• Carpinteria Creeks
• Shoreline Park
• Isla Vista Streets
• More Mesa
• Tajiguas Beach

Community members unable to attend Coastal Cleanup Day on September 21st are still welcome to clean up any time during the month of September. The litter they find will still be included as part of Coastal Cleanup Day’s results if they upload it to Clean Swell under the group name Explore Ecology. Volunteers can install the Clean Swell app on their phones by visiting https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/international-coastal-cleanup/clean-swell-app/

Ellie Cotter, Coastal Cleanup Day Coordinator and Environmental Educator for Explore Ecology, says, “I am very excited for Coastal Cleanup Day. It will be great to see all of hard work pay off! As an Environmental Educator, I’m excited to see students I’ve taught during the school year out and about on CCD, practicing the environmental stewardship our Explore Ecology lessons try to cultivate. It’s always inspiring to me, to see youth taking action. Encourage your family and friends- regardless of their age, to find a site close by and make waves to protect our coastlines on Coastal Cleanup Day!” 

Get outside, enjoy nature, and have fun participating in the largest cleanup event of the year on Coastal Cleanup Day, Saturday, September 21st, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Special thanks to the California Coastal Commission, the County of Santa Barbara Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, the Cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Solvang and the many non-profits, businesses, and generous individuals who make this event possible.

About Explore Ecology: Explore Ecology empowers our community to protect and preserve the planet with innovative environmental education and nature-based learning. Located in Santa Barbara, Explore Ecology is an environmental education nonprofit that educates over 38,000 children a year, inspiring them to engage with the natural world, think critically, and experience the value of environmental stewardship. Programs include the Art From Scrap Creative Reuse Store, the Watershed Resource Center, the EE Makerspace, Environmental Education, and the School Gardens Program. For more information, visit ExploreEcology.org.