Long Beach will host a post-Independence Day cleanup on Sunday, July 5, to remove litter following one of the busiest beach and park days of the year.
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine’s Adopt-A-Beach program, and the Department of Public Works’ Litter Free Long Beach will collaborate with community groups to organize cleanups at Junipero Beach, Bluff Park and Belmont Memorial Pier from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday. Each site will provide gloves and trash bags, and no registration is required.
Adopt-A-Beach will lead the cleanup at Belmont Memorial Pier, 3998 E. Allin St. Volunteers can meet Litter Free LB at Lone Sailor Memorial on Paloma Avenue and Ocean Boulevard for the Bluff Park cleanup. During the cleanups, parking in city lots will be free for volunteers. Although materials will be provided, the city encourages people to bring their own work gloves, buckets and trash grabbers to limit waste.
PRM hosts beach cleanups throughout the year, including the annual California Coastal Cleanup in September. But this is the first year the city will join the Aquarium of the Pacific and Long Beach Junior Lifeguards’ post-Fourth of July cleanup, which those groups have organized the past three years to clear debris from holiday beach celebrations.
“It is hard to quantify exactly how many beachgoers we get on the Fourth across all our beaches, but I’d say several thousand is the best rough estimate,” PRM spokesperson Jennifer De Prez said in a statement. “It is definitely a noticeable influx compared to other summer days.”
The aquarium will lead the Junipero Beach cleanup with the Junior Guards. Volunteers can meet near the lifeguard headquarters, 2100 E. Ocean Blvd.
“Not only can the animals and the habitats in the ocean be cleaner and free of debris that could get tangled or impact the animals underwater,” Cassandra Davis, the aquarium’s director of volunteer services, said in an interview, “it also helps make a better beach for all of us to enjoy as people.”
Shoreline Stewards, the aquarium’s volunteer program, uses the Debris Tracker app to record the different types of trash they pick up from the beach. The aquarium, according to Debris Tracker, collected 2,199 items in July 2025. A majority of the items were plastic, with beach toys and food wrappers among the top items collected.
Along with the aquarium and Junior Guards, the city will also host Independence from Litter with support from the Long Beach Container Terminal, the Surfriders Foundation, and other community partners and neighborhood associations.
“It helps (Junior Guards) recognize the direct impact that litter and pollution have on marine life, beachgoers and the overall health of our coastal environment,” Junior Guards coordinator Gabriel Buso said in a statement.
While the cleanup is not mandatory for Junior Guards, Buso said, they strongly encourage participation because the event reinforces stewardship of the beaches and ocean — a core value of the program.
“As future lifeguards and ocean ambassadors, it is important that our Junior Guards understand that protecting the coastline extends beyond water safety and rescues,” Buso said. “Taking part in a beach cleanup teaches them personal responsibility, environmental awareness and the importance of giving back to the community they serve.”
The Surfrider Foundation will also host a Sunday cleanup in Santa Monica to address pollution on what they call the “Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year.”
“We are partnering with our many community partners to activate the beach post-Fourth of July with volunteers to help clean and restore our beaches,” De Prez said, “in addition to PRM’s other beach maintenance efforts, and we encourage folks to come join us, even if they only have an hour of time to give.”