The Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine is looking for volunteers for the 42nd Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.
This year’s cleanup is set for Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon, at 10 locations in the city
“We invite our Long Beach community to join this year’s California Coastal Cleanup Day and help care for the shoreline we all cherish,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement. “This year is especially meaningful as communities across California commemorate 50 years of the California Coastal Act and its Commission that has been dedicated to protecting our coast over the last five decades. Coming together for this cleanup is a powerful way to honor that legacy and ensure our beaches and marinas remain vibrant, healthy spaces for generations to come.”
Led by the California Coastal Commission, this year’s California Coastal Cleanup Day will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Coastal Act, a state law that established the commission to regulate land and water use along 1,100 miles of shoreline. Officials said the law maximizes public access, protects marine habitats and regulates land development within the “Coastal Zone” the legislation delineates.
Long Beach has long served as one of the main locations for California Coastal Cleanup Day, city officials said. This year the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department along with the agency’s local partners are expanding the cleanup by adding five new locations along the coastline and interior beaches. The expansion doubles the number of cleanups that took place last year.
Cleanup locations for the 2026 event are:
- Alamitos Bay Marina, 255 N. Marina Drive, led by the Seal Beach Yacht Club;
- Alamitos Beach, 380 E. Shoreline Drive, led by the Ocean Conservancy;
- Belmont Pier, 3998 E. Allin St., led by Long Beach PRM and El Dorado Nature Center’s Adopt-A-Beach Program
- Bluff Park at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue, led by the Long Beach Department of Public Works and Bluff Park Neighborhood Association;
- Junipero Beach, 2100 E. Ocean Blvd., led by the LA Water Keeper;
- MacArthur Park, 1321 E. Anaheim St., led by Public Works and CLIMB Central LB;
- Mother’s Beach, 5839 Appian Way, led by Algalita;
- Peninsula at 72nd Place and East Ocean Boulevard, led by the Aquarium of the Pacific;
- Shoreline Park, 700 E. Shoreline Drive, led by PRM;
- Rainbow Harbor, 212 Golden Shore, led by PRM.
In cleanup work, each volunteer site will feature activities, educational components and giveaways, organizers said.
While loves and trash bags will be provided at all cleanup locations, officials encouraged volunteers to bring their own work gloves, buckets and grabbers to limit waste.
Volunteers were also advised to submit a waiver prior to the event, however paper copies will be available Cleanup Day. Volunteers younger than 16 years old will require a parental or caregiver signature.
Parking will be free to volunteers in the nearest beach lot for the cleanup’s duration.
The Ocean Conservancy has scheduled the Alamitos Beach cleanup site as part of the organization’s 41st Annual International Coastal Cleanup. The event will feature USA Artistic Swimming athletes and other special activations as part of the city’s 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games planning efforts and Ocean Conservancy’s Protect Where We Play initiative. In 2028, Alamitos Beach will serve as the site for Olympic Beach Volleyball and Paralympic Blind Football.
In 2025, more than 950 volunteers removed over 2,375 pounds of debris from the city’s beaches in just three hours, officials reported.
