Traditions of picnics and fireworks bring thousands of people to the beaches of Monterey Bay to celebrate the 4th of July. Piles of garbage and trashed beaches are the unfortunate result.

SOS tackles the aftermath of pollution and debris through education, outreach, and awareness. Be it on our beaches or through local media outlets - Save Our Shores is there. We remind visitors to 'Pack your Trash', hand out thousands of trash and recycling bags on our beaches, and we rise early to conduct the July 5thStar Spangled Beach Cleanup, the second largest beach cleanup of the year on the Central Coast.

Our volunteers create cleaner, safer, more beautiful beaches - and we want YOU to join us!

Volunteer with SOS on July 4th:

Volunteers hit the beaches from 1-5pm to remind beach-goers to properly dispose of and recycle their trash. In 2011, SOS volunteers handed out 1,650 bags and reached nearly 5,000 people with our Pollution Prevention is Patriotic campaign!

In Santa Cruz County, volunteer at:
- Main & Cowell Beach
- Seabright Beach
- Twin Lakes Beach
- Seacliff/Rio Del Mar Beach
In Monterey County, volunteer at:
- Carmel Beach

Volunteer for the July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanup!

Stop thousands of pounds trash and debris from polluting the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. In 2011, 263 dedicated volunteers in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties removed 1,657 lbs. of garbage and pollution from our beaches on July 5th!

Join us from 8-10am at:

In Santa Cruz:

Main & Cowell Beach
Seabright Beach
Twin Lakes State Beach
Moran Lake Beach
Seacliff & Rio Del Mar Beach

In Monterey:

Del Monte Beach at Wharf #2
Carmel Beach

Check our Cleanup Calendar for up to date information...

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Find out about our Event-Sponsorship today!

Thank you to our 2011 volunteers and Supporters!

On July 5th, over 260 beach cleanup volunteers in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties worked together to prevent 1,657 lbs. of pollution from entering the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Only July 2nd and 4th we reached 4,850 people while spreading the Pollution Prevention message on our beaches and streets. Read more in our blog post....

Five Years Strong: In 2008, in addition to our annual July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanup beach cleanup, SOS launched our Pollution Prevention is Patriotic efforts on July 4th. We're pleased to report our efforts are working! Because our volunteers now hand out thousands of trash and recycling bags on our beaches every 4th of July and spread the Pollution Prevention message, we've seen a steep decline in the amount of trash found polluting our beaches during our July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanups. Thank you for doing your part to protect our most valuable resources!