Give back to your community and to the estuary by doing a cleanup!
Why does it matter?
Trash poses a problem for wildlife on land and in waterways. Animals can eat the trash or become entangled in it, and plastic debris can leach chemicals or pollutants into the water. Litter also makes our town unsightly and can have a negative impact on the tourism economy.
Cleanups can be big or small!
Next time you’re taking a walk or hike, bring a bag with you and pick up any trash you find! It’s that easy to help keep Morro Bay clean and healthy. It takes all of us working together to keep this trash out of our bay!
Be a community scientist by keeping track of trash
The Estuary Program reports all cleanup results to the Surfrider Foundation, a global nonprofit that works to protect the world’s oceans and beaches. We use the Surfrider beach cleanup data sheet to keep track of the types of litter being picked up during cleanup events.
If you would like to do your own cleanup, we encourage you to use the Surfrider data sheet and report your results at cleanups.surfrider.org.
Other opportunities
You can be part of cleanups throughout the year with other organizations, as well as on your own.
- Coastal Cleanup Day (every third Saturday in September) This global cleanup effort is managed in California by the CA Coastal Commission, and locally by ECOSLO. No matter where you live, you can find a cleanup happening near you.
- Morro Bay in Bloom’s town beautification events (every Wednesday and Saturday in rotating locations) This local organization hosts weekly work parties to beautify Morro Bay with planting, weeding, and picking up trash in popular public areas. Learn more at morrobayinbloom.org
- #2minutebeachclean (anytime you choose) When you hit the beach or take a walk, remember to pick up what you see around you whether you dropped it or not. By helping gather wind-blown trash, lost items, and forgotten pieces of junk, you can make a difference. Why not make the effort? It only takes two minutes!
- Clean Swell App by the Ocean Conservancy Download this free phone app to keep track of data during solo cleanups. This app will track your efforts so you can see how much of an impact you have made over time!