With over 3,000 miles of shoreline in California, there are a lot of opportunities to help keep beaches clean, marine wildlife safe, and recreation enjoyable in your community and for all. In celebration of Coastal Cleanup Month in September and California Coastal Cleanup Day on September 18, 2021, consider visiting your local beach or waterway and doing your part to keep it clean with these simple tips:

• Bring and use non-puncture gloves (such as gardening gloves), hand sanitizer, reusable bags or buckets for collecting litter, grabbers, trash bags to empty litter into, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Be aware of health and safety conditions like changing water tides, slippery rocks, fallen trees, biohazard spills, harmful marine wildlife, and other potential marine debris and dangers.
• Be mindful of what you are picking up and leave all natural habitats undisturbed, including driftwood.
• Do not pick up needles, broken glass, or other dangerous items. If in doubt, leave litter where it is.
• Bring snacks and stay hydrated.
• To protect your health and the health of others, follow COVID-19 safety guidelines and maintain distance from other parties.
• Log your litter with apps like Litterati or CleanSwell to track data and help influence local policy.
• Make sure your collected litter makes it into a trash container with a secure lid so that it stays out of the environment.

For more detailed information on how to safely plan your beach cleanup, visit the California Department of Parks and Recreation website.

Visit the California Coastal Commission website to find an official California Coastal Cleanup event and keep the celebrations going throughout September with the many different events hosted  by organizations such as the Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, Ocean Conservancy, Save Our Beach, Pacific Beach Coalition, Orange County Coastkeeper, and others. Check with organizations directly to learn about upcoming events and opportunities to get involved.