Do you want to get outside and make a difference? There’s a Coastal Cleanup opportunity near you! Meet at Sandy Beach County Park in Rio Vista

Solano County, CA: Solano County’s Annual Cleanup is all about protecting our waterways and oceans. Individuals or small groups can pick up litter any day this month, performing cleanup sweeps through their neighborhoods and local natural places. Residents can also volunteer on the official Coastal Cleanup Day on September 18. “These combined efforts will help prevent single-use plastic items, recyclable beverage containers, and other litter from polluting our local land and waterways that can eventually make their way to the ocean” says Narcisa Untal, Solano County Senior Planner.

Untal added, “Any person can use the month-long Cleanup Event to clean up wherever they are, whenever they can. Everyone can participate and make a real difference, at whatever scale is safest and works best for them.”

Locations for the September 18 cleanup from 9 am to 12 pm and the latest safety protocols can be found at cleanupsolano.org. No matter where or when you participate, we encourage participants to wear a mask, maintain safe distances from others and be sure to monitor air quality to ensure you’re safe while cleaning up. All of the official county cleanup site operations will be contingent on the most current safety guidelines; volunteers should check cleanupsolano.org to make sure they have the latest information before they join the event. 

If you’re doing small-scale cleanup, be sure to download the Clean Swell app so you can input your results during or after your cleanup work to make sure your numbers are automatically included in the larger statewide tally. However, if you prefer a paper data card, just download it from coastalcleanupday.org and send the completed tally of your day’s efforts to the address on the back of the card. Both the app and the printable data card are also available from cleanupsolano.org. While you’re there, check out the helpful guidelines for conducting a neighborhood cleanup and other resources to help plan and prepare do-it-yourself cleanup events.

When we all work together, we make a difference. In 2019, the year of our last in-person event, over 2,000 volunteers cleared more than 25 thousand pounds of trash and single-use beverage containers. Jennifer Kaiser, Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District’s Public Information Officer and Vallejo cleanup lead says, “Even with all the barriers Covid-19 and the wildfires have thrown at us, our Coastal Cleanup efforts are an amazing example of what our community is made of. It is really cool to see all the dedication and commitment volunteers demonstrate, and it’s even better to see the real difference they make with the simple gift of three hours of their time.” 

Solano Resource Conservation District coordinates this annual Coastal Cleanup Day on behalf of the Cities and County of Solano and the local wastewater agencies. The Solano Chapter of the Sierra Club has provided energy bars for all official September 18 sites this year with the support from Sprouts of Vacaville. These local events are part of a larger statewide Coastal Cleanup Day effort usually consisting over more than 1,000 sites throughout California. For a complete listing of Solano County partners and community cleanups, please visit cleanupsolano.org. Follow local cleanup efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, use the handle @cleanupsolano. Follow statewide efforts on Facebook at facebook.com/CaliforniaCoast, Twitter at twitter.com/TheCACoast and on Instagram at instagram.com/thecaliforniacoast/ We hope we’ll see you!