Volunteers will arrive Saturday, Sept. 23, armed with gloves, bags and a few hours of their time to help curb pollution of the ocean.

But California Coastal Cleanup Day, now in its 39th year, happens not just at the shoreline – efforts extend far inland to include parks, creeks, lakes and rivers, places where rains can flush trash down to the ocean.

The annual effort is timed ahead of winter storms, a chance to capture the trash before it makes it to beaches and the ocean, where it harms wildlife and the marine environment.

“This year is gong to be super important, as we prepare for another wet winter ahead of us,” said Matt Sylvester, communications director for Orange County Coastkeepers, which helps coordinate efforts for more than 30 sites both on the coast and inland. “It should prevent trash from getting to our beaches and coastlines and estuaries.”

Coastkeepers is coordinating cleanups as far inland as Martha McLean Park in Riverside to catch trash before it can be washed to the shore. Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay has volunteers organized as far inland as Pasadena.

More than 700 cleanups in nearly every county of the state are planned – the day is touted as the state’s largest annual volunteer event.

“For generations, Californians have demonstrated their love and dedication to our coast during Coastal Cleanup Day,” California Coastal Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge said in a statement. “The Coastal Commission is incredibly proud to provide an outlet for all Californians to express that dedication each year. We see how devoting only a few hours on a Saturday in September translates into a year-round commitment to the protection and preservation of our coast. We are grateful to all who share in this goal.”

The Coastal Cleanup Day program is part of the commission’s effort to raise public awareness of marine and coastal resources and promote coastal stewardship throughout the state.

During the pandemic, organizers dubbed September Coastal Cleanup Month, with people encouraged to go out and do self-guided solo or small group cleanups.

While most groups and larger gatherings have resumed for the single-day event, volunteers are still encouraged to help out throughout the entire month. It’s estimated that 50,000 volunteers help pick up trash during all of September.

Since 1985, more than 1.7 million volunteers have helped remove more than 26 million pounds of trash from California’s beaches and inland shorelines. It’s also part of a larger, worldwide effort, the International Coastal Cleanup, which is organized by the Ocean Conservancy,

Last year, 500 cleanup sites were organized throughout the state, with volunteers collectively removing 300,000 pounds of trash and recyclables. In  Orange County, more than 2,500 volunteers remove more than 10,700 pounds of trash in a single day.

This year’s theme, “You’re Bigger Than You Think,” speaks to the enormous effect that volunteers can have when they come together to accomplish a common goal, according to organizers with the Coastal Commission.

Alison Simard, director of marketing for Heal the Bay, said an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 volunteers are expected to show up at the 35 public cleanups planned around Los Angeles County on Saturday – a few dozen private gatherings put on by corporations, companies and schools are also planned.

“We are the last line of defense protecting the coast from litter,” she said. “Our storm drain system is not build to filter this stuff out. So when the storms come, they flush everything on the way. Once that water comes – they call it the first flush – and it goes straight into the ocean.”

While strides have been made through the years, there’s still a long way to go to curb the pollution of the waters with trash and debris from communities, she said.

“I think there’s still a mindset that someone else will come along and clean it up,” she said. “There’s no magic wand that will come and fix this.”

But more and more, she’s seeing people having a sense of accountability, she said, understanding the “fragility of the future of this planet.”

For a full list of cleanup locations, go to coastal.ca.gov.

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