Saturday, September 20, 2025
Event Details
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025
Time: 9AM – 12PM
Location: List of site options will be available when registration opens on September 1.
About
About Coastal Cleanup Day
Over 269,000 volunteers and 5 million pounds of litter and debris removed since 1985.
I Love A Clean San Diego has served as the official organizer of Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County since it was founded in 1985. The event is a major part of International Coastal Cleanup, which is facilitated by The Ocean Conservancy and includes many U.S. states and territories and over 70 countries. In California, data is reported to the California Coastal Commission to be funneled into the world’s largest marine database. You are joining hundreds of thousands of volunteers all over the world to remove pollution from our ecosystems!
Our Mission
Why Volunteer?
By 2050, there could be more plastic than fish by weight in the world’s oceans if we don’t defend our waterways from litter.
Because we LOVE where we live. Volunteering is a wonderful way to give back to your community while meeting like-minded people!
Get Involved!
Anyone can do it! Volunteer as an individual, with friends and family or as a corporate team.
You can sign up as a volunteer at our more than 100 cleanup sites throughout the County. Complete cleanup site list will be posted on September 1 when registration opens.
Corporate partnership is critical to sustaining these vital events that protect our waterways and marine life. Our partnerships are turnkey and create excellent employee volunteer opportunities. Check out our Partnership Deck for more information on how to get support this event today!
I Love A Clean San Diego is proud to offer scout troops and interested volunteers a commemorative patch to recognize your volunteerism and participation! Request your patch after participating in Coastal Cleanup Day through our Countywide Patch Request Form! Please note: patches will not be available until after Monday, September 23, 2024.
For sponsorship opportunities, see our sponsorship deck for more information and contact jbarros@cleansd.org with any questions.
Thank you to our 2024 Coastal Cleanup Day Partners
Presenting
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Jurisdiction
With Support From
In-Kind Donations
FAQs
For inquiries, please contact cleanupday@cleansd.org
How can I get involved or show my support?
There are many ways to support the efforts of Coastal Cleanup Day with I Love A Clean San Diego:
- Volunteering on the day – choose from any of the cleanup sites around the county
- Volunteering to be a site captain and lead the cleanup yourself for members of the public
- Donating – financial support or giveaways/supplies for our volunteers
- Sponsoring the event
- Promoting the event and spreading the message
Where will sites be located?
Coastal Cleanup Day will have cleanup sites throughout San Diego County. Site map and registration opens on September 1. Once posted you select to volunteer for a site of your choosing through our Community Hub portal.
What is a site captain?
Coastal Cleanup Day is a countywide cleanup effort that encompasses around 100 different sites throughout San Diego County – each one lead by a site captain for the public. As a site captain, you will lead your site on the day of the event. I Love A Clean San Diego provides the supplies, additional outreach, website coordination for volunteer registration, and hauling for the trash and debris collected (if necessary). Before the event, site captains are responsible for picking up the supplies from our office. Site captains are asked to scout their location and choose where the meeting location is within I Love A Clean San Diego’s deadlines. On the day of the event, site captains collect waivers from volunteers, pass out supplies, give an informational/safety talk, hand out data cards and then keep a record of the trash & debris totals to report back to us by 1pm the day of the event. Any extra supplies will just be drop in front of the office anytime. If you are interested in being a site captain please email cleanupday@cleansd.org.
How do I prepare?
Volunteers should wear closed toed shoes, have some form of sun protection (hat and/or sunscreen) as well as bring a water bottle or two! Volunteers in canyon locations with exposure to poison oak should wear light weight long pants and long sleeves for protection. Site captains will have gloves and trash bags on site for all registered volunteers but if you would like to be zero waste champions we would recommend bring reusable garden gloves and a bucket.
Do I have to print out a waiver?
We encourage you to print, review and sign the waiver of liability and turn it in to the site captain on the day. This makes the check-in process go quicker! However it is not required to have beforehand, there will be hard copy waivers on the day for you to sign if you don’t have a printer or forgot! Everyone under 18 will need a parent or legal guardian to sign the waiver for them, this can be done in advance by printing at home or on the day of the event.
What site should I pick? Which sites have the most trash?
Our site map (which is posted September 1 with registration opening) shows all the locations we are hosting for the event. It is broken down into sections to help make it easier to search an area you would like to volunteer in. Furthermore each site is listed with the name of the city it is located in first, to help volunteers better understand the location at a glance. Typically coastal sites tend to have less need, this is because these locations are the most popular to support. A week before the event, sites that are in need of more volunteer help will be listed as a “hot opportunity” and can be filtered for in the search categories of the Community Hub portal. However every single site would benefit from litter collection, even the smallest pieces can pollute and destroy the ecosystems around them.
How do I register? Can I register as a family or a group?
Registration opens September 1, this is when you will be able to see all the site options. To register you must create an account on our Community Hub. From there you can pick any location you would like and register as an individual or for a whole group when you click the blue sign up button on the specific location’s webpage.
Does this count for community service? What about court-ordered service?
This event does qualify for community service hours and court ordered hours at all the designated cleanup locations. In order to receive volunteer hours, service forms and Letter of Appreciation, volunteer will need to be:
- Registered for the event through I Love A Clean San Diego’s Community Hub.
- Participate in the cleanup
- Capture a photo of your active participation in the cleanup
- Log your hours and complete the logbook survey post cleanup through your profile on Community Hub (this is where you can request a Letter of Appreciation)
- Site captains will also have a hard copy available on site upon request.
How old do I have to be to volunteer?
Any age is welcome to join! Only persons over the age of 13 can make an account but anyone with an account can register a group. Some locations are not kid friendly and have been noted on the location’s specific webpage. Please read the webpage closely to make sure it is a good fit for your family.
Can my Troop get patches for participating?
I Love A Clean San Diego is proud to offer scout troops and interested volunteers a commemorative patch to recognize your volunteerism and participation. Patches are available by request while supplies last after the cleanup. Volunteers will have to log their hours on the online portal to be eligible and a donation of a couple of dollars is encouraged so we can keep the patch program going for future events. Volunteers can request a patch after the event is completed through our Patch Request Form link now.
Contact ILACSD Staff
Have additional questions? Send us an email at cleanupday@cleansd.org.
