California Coastal Cleanup Day will celebrate its 41st year this September with its first ever “Trashure Hunt.” The state’s largest volunteer event is expected to draw more than 50,000 people at hundreds of locations across the state.

The California Coastal Commission organizes the annual cleanup, which this year promises to be the world’s largest scavenger hunt. Participants can win everything from hotel stays, tickets to theme and amusement parks, gift cards, tickets to a Giants baseball game, a ceremonial first pitch at an A’s game, an e-bike, and many more prizes.

The cleanup effort is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon.

“We’re very excited about this year’s creative twist on Coastal Cleanup Day,” said Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge. “Californians have repeatedly shown up to protect the state’s iconic shoreline, and this is our way of celebrating that dedication.”

Past cleanup events have proven so successful that the Coastal Commission introduced a self-guided program in 2020 to allow participation across the entire month of September. Last year, more than 47,000 volunteers turned out, including at over 700 cleanup sites on Coastal Cleanup Day itself.

“Volunteers are already giving so much to help protect our precious natural resources,” said Jamie Barrett, chief creative officer with pro bono ad agency Barrett Hofherr, which helped design this year’s event. “We thought it was time to reward those efforts wherever we could and hopefully entice more people to come join in on the fun.”

The Coastal Commission organizes the event with help from hundreds of governments and nonprofit agencies throughout the state. About 1.8 million volunteers have helped remove more than 13,500 tons of trash since the event’s launch in 1985. The most common items include cigarette filters, food wrappers, plastic straws, and other utensils.

Winter rains in California can flush trash and other debris through rivers, creeks and channels from inland areas across hundreds of miles to the ocean. That means that even volunteers participating in places such as Sacramento and Riverside can help protect the coast.

To find the closest cleanup event near you, visit coastalcleanupday.org. Publicity posters and T-shirts are also available at the website. Follow statewide efforts on social media at facebook.com/CaliforniaCoast and instagram.com/thecaliforniacoast/. You can also share your cleanup experience on social media using the hashtag #coastalcleanupday.

California Coastal Cleanup Day event is presented by the California Coastal Commission and Niagara Cares, with support from Oracle, Nordic Naturals, the Whale Tail Specialty License Plate, the Protect our Coast and Oceans Fund, and GreenPolly. This year’s artwork was created and donated by Barrett Hofherr.

Trashure Hunt prizes were donated by Niagara Cares, Oracle, Nordic Naturals, Vinfast, California State Parks Foundation, Cuyama Buckhorn, the San Francisco Fairmont, the Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, San Francisco Giants, A’s, Boichik Bagels, Poppy Bagels, Salida River Adventures, Well Fargo Advisors, Habit Burger, Doordash, and Intex.

The Coastal Commission is committed to protecting and enhancing California’s coast and ocean for present and future generations. It does so through careful planning and regulation of environmentally sustainable development, strong public participation, education and effective intergovernmental coordination. The Coastal Cleanup Day Program is part of its effort to raise public awareness of marine and coastal resources and promote coastal stewardship.