Annual Coastal Cleanup Day
Annual Coastal Cleanup Day is set for
September 21st, 2013.
Mark your calendars!
On September 15,2012 about 3,500 volunteers in Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties worked together to prevent 16,827 lbs. of pollution and debris from trashing our Sanctuary, littering our communities and harming marine life. That's well over 8 tons that was kept from entering the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in just three hours, on one day! Coastal Cleanup Day is what community is all about. Thank you to all of you who made a difference for our blue planet.
Read more...
See our photo album of our amazing volunteers
Special thanks to the Supporting Restaurants of Coastal Cleanup Day!
We love our volunteers and supporters!!
Support ocean conservation all year - Become a Member today!
Coastal Cleanup Day is the largest volunteer event on the planet. Volunteers in over 100 countries around the world come together with one goal: preventing hundreds of thousands of pounds of pollution from trashing our oceans and harming marine wildlife.
In 2011, 4,580 Save Our Shores volunteers at 80 cleanup sites throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties worked together to remove over 17,000 lbs. of pollution in just 3 hours - WOW!! In California, over 63,000 volunteers banded together to cleanup over 590,000 lbs. of pollution. We love our volunteers!!
We encourage all of our volunteers to Bring Your Own reusable bags, buckets, water bottles, and gloves to help lower the carbon footprint of this huge, community effort, though all cleanup materials will be provided.
Site Captains lead the way to clean oceans:
The success of Annual Coastal Cleanup Day depends on the leadership of our Site Captains. You'll attend a brief training session in early September, and then just arrive early on Sept. 15 to sign-in your volunteers! Whether you are a regular SOS volunteer, or this is your very first time, participating in Coastal Cleanup Day is exciting and easy. Contact volunteer@saveourshores.org.
What to expect as a volunteer:
Volunteers arrive at their cleanup site at 9am ready to get to work!
Pre-registration (see links above) is encouraged, but is not mandatory. Bringing your own waiver form will also save you time. You may also pre-register and sign a waiver form once you arrive at the cleanup.
Please Note: For river cleanup sites, close-toed shoes, rubber boots, and heavy/garden gloves will help keep you clean and dry.
At the cleanup: your Site Captain will sign you in, distribute cleanup supplies, and provide a safety briefing. We encourage all volunteers to Bring Your Own reusable bags, buckets, gloves, and reusable water bottle to lower the carbon footprint of this event. Find more BYO ideas from the Coastal Commission...
SCUBA Divers: To register for a SCUBA cleanup at the Santa Cruz Wharf,
please stay tuned for information in 2012.
Kayak Cleanups: To register for a kayak cleanup, please stay tuned for information in 2012.
Check our Cleanup & Event Calendar
For School Groups: 
One thing we know for sure - kids care about the ocean and it's many amazing critters!
You can organize your own campus, neighborhood, or beach cleanup anytime from September 6-15, or have your students participate at one of our many cleanups on September 15.
You may also be interested in having an SOS representative visit your classroom to give a presentation and lesson about marine debris, coastal ecology, and plastic pollution.
Email volunteer@saveourshores.org to inquire.
Please note: Students need a Cleanup Waiver Form signed by a legal guardian, see below. 
Cleanup Waiver Forms: All participants must sign a waiver form. Volunteers under 18 without a legal guardian must bring aprinted and signed waiver form with them. To speed up your check-in process, recommended for large groups: download the English-waiver-form here, and the Spanish-waiver-form here.
Get your Businesses Recognized as an Ocean Champion!
Our Sponsors are recognized all around Monterey Bay through advertisements, posters, online, and more - Join us as a Sponsor today!
The natural beauty of the Monterey Bay area is the foundation of our community.
It brings thousands of visitors to our coasts and inspires our unique culture and environmental awareness. Locals, visitors, and businesses all need to pitch in to protect our beautiful beaches, rivers and sloughs - and that means YOU.
Become a Sponsor for the Summer of Clean Beaches!
Annual Coastal Cleanup Day is the perfect opportunity to show the community that your business cares about creating a healthy ocean community.
Become a Sponsor of Annual Coastal Cleanup Day! The success of this event depends on the support we receive from local governments and businesses.
Please contact vivian@saveourshores.org to Sponsor a Summer of Clean Beaches!
If you would like to provide in-kind sponsorship of some sort, please let us know.
Thank you to our 2012 Summer of Clean Beaches Sponsors!
See results from Annual Coastal Cleanup Day 2011:
- 2011-Data-Summary-for-Santa-Cruz-Monterey-Counties
- See our photo album from the 2011 cleanup
- Check out our cleanup data press release
- Read our post-event press release
