San Diego County CA— I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) is looking for more than 6,000 volunteers to help clean and beautify local beaches, waterways, canyons, and parks on Saturday, April 27th from 9 AM – 12 PM for its 17th Annual Creek to Bay Cleanup. Registration is officially open for this countywide cleanup event. Volunteers are encouraged to sign up for a location in their neighborhood as a way to give back to the local environment for Earth Day. From Alpine to Mission Beach and San Ysidro to Oceanside, there are 114 cleanup sites throughout San Diego County where volunteers may participate. Those interested in getting involved and making a difference can select a site and register at CreektoBay.org.
Creek to Bay’s tagline, “Your Neighborhood, Our Environment,” highlights the importance of taking action locally to contribute regionally and beyond. Volunteers can join forces with their neighbors at a nearby cleanup site to impact the overall health and beauty of the entire county. Last year, 6,463 volunteers demonstrated their dedication to San Diego’s environment, removing more than 145,000 pounds of litter and debris during the three-hour event. While trash removal is a large focus of the event, volunteers will also enhance their communities through beautification projects such as green waste removal, painting park structures, graffiti removal, mulching, and more. These beautification projects restore local outdoor areas and inspire a strong sense of community pride.
ILACSD encourages all volunteers to practice zero waste cleanup habits at Creek to Bay by swapping single-use plastic items for sustainable alternatives. When registering, volunteers can pledge to bring reusable water bottles, work gloves, and buckets, keeping thousands of single-use bags and disposable gloves out of San Diego’s crowded landfills. As an incentive to opt for reusable alternatives, ILACSD will again hold its Bling Your Bucket Contest. The Bling Your Bucket Contest encourages creativity while promoting conservation. Kids and adults can submit a photo of their decorated reusable trash collection bucket for the chance to be featured on CreektoBay.org. Fun prizes will be awarded to the best-decorated buckets entered into the contest.
Additionally, Sony has returned to sponsor this year’s Creek to Bay Sony Photo Contest. With this year’s theme of Volunteering Victories, contestants are asked to submit a photo that captures what made the volunteer experience a success at the Creek to Bay Cleanup. The winner of the contest will receive a Sony Cyber Shot Camera. Photos for the Bling Your Bucket and Sony Photo Contests may be submitted to iloveacleansd@gmail.com. Interested volunteers can find contest details and guidelines at CreektoBay.org.
Creek to Bay is one of the two countywide cleanups that ILACSD hosts each year. The second, Coastal Cleanup Day, will take place this year on Saturday, September 21st. Additionally, ILACSD hosts multiple cleanups, educational workshops, and volunteer events each month. To find out more about these opportunities, visit the event calendar on cleanSD.org.
About I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD)
As San Diego’s most influential advocate for sustainability, I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) is an environmental catalyst, awakening passion and inspiring action, empowering everyone to improve the health and beauty of our local environment. For over sixty years, we’ve brought the best in all of us together for a lasting, positive impact on our region. We are passion in action. For more information, to volunteer or donate, visit cleanSD.org or call (619) 291-0103. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.