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. The complete cleanup site list will be posted on April 1 when registration opens. You can register as an individual or as a group!
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 on our Countywide Patch Request Form! Please note, that patches will not be available until after the event.
For sponsorship opportunities, see our sponsorship deck for more information and contact Chanelle Carney ccarney@cleansd.org with any questions.
Thank you to our 2026 Creek to Bay Partners
Presenting
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Jurisdiction
In-Kind Donations
Partnership Opportunities
Presenting
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Support from local jurisdictions
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FAQs
For inquiries, please contact cleanupday@cleansd.org
There are many ways to support the efforts of Creek to Bay 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
Creek to Bay will have cleanup sites throughout San Diego County. Have a site that is in need of a cleanup? Suggest a site here before registration opens. Site map and registration opens on August 25th. Once posted you select to volunteer for a site of your choosing through our Community Hub portal.
Creek to Bay is a countywide cleanup effort that encompasses around 100 different sites throughout San Diego County – each one led 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 dropped in front of the office anytime.
If you are interested in being a site captain please email cleanupday@cleansd.org.
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 lightweight 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 recommend bringing reusable garden gloves and a bucket.
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.
Our site map (which is posted March 30 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.
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 because they 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 surrounding ecosystems.
Registration opens March 30. 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.
This event does qualify for community service hours and court-ordered hours at all designated cleanup locations.
To receive volunteer hours, volunteers 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
- Log your hours and complete the post-cleanup survey through your Community Hub profile
- Request a Letter of Appreciation if needed
Site captains will also have a hard copy available on site upon request.
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 review details carefully.
I Love A Clean San Diego is proud to offer scout troops and interested volunteers a commemorative patch to recognize participation in Creek to Bay.
Patches are available by request while supplies last after the cleanup. Volunteers must log their hours on the online portal to be eligible, and a small donation is encouraged to support the program.
Volunteers can request a patch after the event through the Patch Request Form.
Have additional questions? Send us an email at cleanupday@cleansd.org.
