The coast’s biggest cleaning day of the year is back on Saturday, September 19.
For the 42nd consecutive year, volunteers are invited to join their neighbors at their favorite beach from 9 a.m. to noon for Coastal Cleanup Day, a day dedicated to removing litter from local shores that started in California but has grown across the globe.
The event — the largest volunteer event in California — is expected to draw 50,000 people across hundreds of locations this year, according to the California Coastal Commission, the statewide organizer.
Volunteers are especially important this year as a potentially historic El Niño takes aim at the state, the commission said in a press release. Increased rainfall from this major weather event can wash plastic pollution from creeks and streams into the ocean, it said.
In Santa Barbara County, the event is organized by Explore Ecology, the County of Santa Barbara Resource Recovery and Waste Management, with support from the Cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Solvang. It will cover 37 sites — up three from last year — from Rincon to Jalama, including beaches, creeks, parks and a river. Inland locations are important, too, because stormwater drainage systems can carry trash to the beach, Explore Ecology said in a press release.
Alongside picking up garbage, volunteers will also contribute meaningful data that informs state and national environmental policy, such as the state’s plastic bans.
“Last year, 1,038 local volunteers removed 1.8 tons of litter in just three hours, most of it plastic,” said Jill Cloutier, PR director for Explore Ecology. “With more sites than ever, 2026 promises to be even more impactful.”
All ages are welcome, with some of the youngest site captains being as young as 10 years old.
The event also marks the start of Santa Barbara County’s Creek Week, which will be full of fun, watershed-centered activities to celebrate the region’s rivers, creeks and streams, and inspire residents to keep its waterways healthy.
Learn more about Coastal Cleanup Day and sign up online here.
