On the morning of July 5th, 238 volunteers participated in the 2012 Star Spangled Beach Cleanup and prevented a total of 1,587 lbs. of pollution from littering our beaches and entering the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

And on July 4th, 40 volunteers spread the Pollution Prevention message to 5,660 beach goers on six high-impact beaches in Santa Cruz and Monterey County, while handing out nearly 1,700 trash and recycling bags to help keep our beaches clean!

Traditions of picnics and fireworks bring thousands of people to the beaches of Monterey Bay to celebrate the 4th of July. Piles of garbage and trashed beaches are the unfortunate result.

SOS tackles the aftermath of pollution and debris through education, outreach, and awareness. Be it on our beaches or through local media outlets - Save Our Shores is there. We remind visitors to 'Pack your Trash', hand out thousands of trash and recycling bags on our beaches, and we rise early to conduct the July 5thStar Spangled Beach Cleanup, the second largest beach cleanup of the year on the Central Coast.

Our volunteers create cleaner, safer, more beautiful beaches - and we want YOU to join us!

Volunteer with SOS on July 4th 2013:

Volunteers will hit the beaches from 12 - 4pm to remind beach-goers to properly dispose of and recycle their trash with our Pollution Prevention is Patriotic campaign!

In Santa Cruz County, volunteer at:
- Main & Cowell Beach
- Seabright Beach
- Twin Lakes Beach
- Seacliff/Rio Del Mar Beach
- Capitola City Beach
In Monterey County, volunteer at:
- Del Monte Beach / Municipal Municipal Beach at Wharf #2
- Carmel Beach

Volunteer for the July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanup!

Stop thousands of pounds trash and debris from polluting the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Join us from 8-10am at:

In Santa Cruz:

Main & Cowell Beach
Seabright Beach
Twin Lakes State Beach
Moran Lake Beach
Seacliff & Rio Del Mar Beach
Capitola City Beach
Panther Beach (north Santa Cruz County)
On West Cliff Drive for a street cleanup
Davenport Main Beach (an XStream cleanup)

In Monterey:

Del Monte Beach / Municipal Municipal Beach at Wharf #2
Carmel Beach

Click here to pre-register to volunteer with us in 2013!!

Check out our Cleanup Calendar for more calendar information

Want your business to be an ocean champion this year?
Find out about our Event-Sponsorship today!

Thank you to our 2011 volunteers and Supporters!

On July 5th, over 260 beach cleanup volunteers in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties worked together to prevent 1,657 lbs. of pollution from entering the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Only July 2nd and 4th we reached 4,850 people while spreading the Pollution Prevention message on our beaches and streets. Read more in our blog post

Five Years Strong: In 2008, in addition to our annual July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanup beach cleanup, SOS launched our Pollution Prevention is Patriotic efforts on July 4th. We're pleased to report our efforts are working! Because our volunteers now hand out thousands of trash and recycling bags on our beaches every 4th of July and spread the Pollution Prevention message, we've seen a steep decline in the amount of trash found polluting our beaches during our July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanups. Thank you for doing your part to protect our most valuable resources!