Volunteers recently geared up with gloves, buckets and grabbers for the third annual San Gabriel River cleanup.
Surfrider Foundation Long Beach, in partnership with the Aquarium of the Pacific, hosted the event to intercept ocean-bound trash along the San Gabriel River before it polluted the coastline. The event also brought much-needed awareness to the sea turtle habitat now thriving along the river.
Based on Surfrider Foundation’s 2024 Beach Cleanup Report, more than 75,000 pounds of trash were collected from California beaches across a 12-month period, according to a press release. This was achieved through more than 600 cleanups across the state.
“This is our third annual San Gabriel River cleanup,” Murriel McCabe, a member of the executive committee at Surfrider Foundation Long Beach, said in a statement. “It’s a gorgeous morning out there in Long Beach, we’ve got over 60 people so far that have come out – families, kids, couples, people of all ages – to be able to help clean up our river here and make our city beautiful.
“This is a precious sea turtle habitat,” McCabe added, “so that’s part of what we’re really trying to do is to make all of this river a safer place for our local ecology.”
Surfrider Foundation Long Beach hosting its third annual San Gabriel River cleanup on Sunday, May 31, 2026, where volunteers helped pick up nearly 3,000 pounds of trash. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation Long Beach)
Surfrider Foundation Long Beach hosting its third annual San Gabriel River cleanup on Sunday, May 31, 2026, where volunteers helped pick up nearly 3,000 pounds of trash. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation Long Beach)
Surfrider Foundation Long Beach hosting its third annual San Gabriel River cleanup on Sunday, May 31, 2026, where volunteers helped pick up nearly 3,000 pounds of trash. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation Long Beach)
Show Caption
1 of 3
Surfrider Foundation Long Beach hosting its third annual San Gabriel River cleanup on Sunday, May 31, 2026, where volunteers helped pick up nearly 3,000 pounds of trash. (Photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation Long Beach)
Founded in 1984, the Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches for all people. The Long Beach chapter has been active since 1996, and has more than 1,000 members, according to its website.
Last year, in a span of a couple of hours, volunteers collected more than 3,000 pounds of trash. This year’s cleanup, on Sunday, May 31, reached a similar goal.
A total of 60 volunteers collected 2,581 pounds of trash in just under four hours on Sunday, organizers said.
“We’re cleaning up the San Gabriel River today to basically save the ocean, save the wildlife that’s around here, help out the community, help out this beautiful resource that we have,” Bryan Albiston, a Surfrider volunteer, said in a statement. “We’ve got a lot of volunteers and hopefully, we get more. It’s been a wonderful event.”
Some of the debris that volunteers picked up, Albiston said, included needles, illegal fireworks, jugs, shopping carts, fishing wire, plastic cups and clothes.
The region is also home to the Pacific green sea turtle, an endangered species, which makes cleanup efforts all the more important, organizers said.
“We are here for the third annual Surfrider and aquarium cleanup of the San Gabriel River,” Dawn Nygren-Burkert, conservation and community science volunteer coordinator at the Aquarium of the Pacific, said in a statement. “It is amazing to get out here with the community to clean this shared waterway and make sure that our ecosystem is healthy and clean for all of us to enjoy.”
Volunteers of all ages participated in the annual cleanup event, including 5-year-old Robin.
“We’re picking up trash so ducks and turtles don’t eat everything,” Robin said on Sunday. Robin was accompanied by his parents.
“My son is five, and even though he’s really young, he already has planet anxiety,” Kendall Oshiro-Hernandez, a Surfrider volunteer and Robin’s mother, said in a statement. “So we’re out here helping pick up trash to keep it from getting in the river and the ocean and it makes him feel better that he’s doing a small part in keeping pollution at bay.”
The cleanup was made possible by partnerships with the Aquarium of the Pacific, Third District Councilmember Kristina Duggan, Los Angeles County Public Works, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, organizers said.
To participate in the next San Gabriel River cleanup or monthly beach cleanups, visit longbeach.surfrider.org.