2021 Clean Bay Challenge

Clean Bay Challenge

This year for Earth Month, Baykeeper invites Bay Area residents to join us in the Clean Bay Challenge to clean up trash before it hurts San Francisco Bay. Will you help us reach 1,000 volunteer hours to protect the Bay?

Clean Bay Challenge volunteers conduct individual or household cleanups, close to home. By cleaning up in your own neighborhood and at nearby parks and shorelines, you can stay safe while stopping trash before it reaches the Bay.

Plus, with our easy-to-use app, you can log volunteer hours, share pictures, like other posts, and be a part of the Clean Bay Challenge community. It’s a fun way to get active, stay connected, and protect the Bay all at the same time.

Registration is free and everyone is invited to participate. Join us to stop trash in San Francisco Bay!

 

How the Challenge Works

Step 1. Sign up here for the Clean Bay Challenge.

Registration is free! Invite your friends, family, and co-workers to help log 1,000 hours for the Bay.

Step 2. Download our app and start tracking your activity.

Step 3. Welcome to the Clean Bay Challenge community! Join a regional team, create your own, or just go solo. Record your volunteer time, share photos of your cleanups, and high-five other participants. Together we’ll work toward 1,000 hours cleaning up San Francisco Bay!

Questions? Email us at events@baykeeper.org.

 

Join the Clean Bay Challenge

 

How to Organize Your Trash Cleanup

1. Who: You! You’ll organize your cleanup at your own time and place, using our guidelines below. Of course, bring along household members to join in!

2. Where: Choose a Bay shoreline, beach, creek, park, storm drain, or city street near you. Make sure your cleanup location is open to the public and away from large crowds.

3. Why: Trash is a serious pollution threat to San Francisco Bay. During the pandemic, there’s been a sharp increase in the use of plastic bags, takeout containers, and other single-use items like gloves and masks.

4. What to plan for your cleanup kit:

  • Face mask, gloves, and hand sanitizer
  • Grabbers or tongs
  • Sturdy trash bags
  • Snacks and plenty of water, as well as sunscreen, sunglasses, and hat
  • Sturdy close-toed shoes and clothes you don't mind getting dirty

5. Safety measures:

  • Wear a mask and stay 6 feet distance from people outside your household
  • Wear gloves. Use a grabber or tongs to pick up discarded masks or gloves
  • Don't pick up syringes or other sharp objects, dead animals, or human waste
  • Separate hazardous waste like batteries and paint, and take them to a hazardous waste dropoff center 
  • After the cleanup, dispose of or wash your gloves and mask, and thoroughly wash your hands

6. Additional tips:

  • Since you’re organizing your own cleanup, you’ll be responsible for disposing of the trash you collect. Don’t overfill public trash bins, and plan ahead to bring trash home with you to dispose of at your residence.
  • Below is a map of additional possible cleanup locations. Confirm that your chosen site is currently open to the public before heading out.

If you have questions, please email events@baykeeper.org.

Liability waiver: By participating you understand and agree that neither San Francisco Baykeeper nor associated local entities may be held liable or responsible in any way for any injury, death, or other damages incurred by you or any memer of your family or team that may occur as a result of your participation, as a result of product liability, or as a result of negligence, whether passive or active, of any party in connection with the challenge.

 

Thank you to our Clean Bay Challenge sponsors:

Sponsors