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Coastal Cleanup Day Trash Castle Event – September 17, 2022
In partnership with California artists Richard and Judith Lang, Caltrans’ Stormwater Public Education Campaign introduces “Trash Castles”—a visual representation of the breadth of common stormwater pollutants on California’s lakes, rivers, streams, and ocean. The installation was featured at “Trash Free Jubilee”, a Huntington Beach clean-up event led by the California Coastal Commission and Orange County Coastkeepers. Event attendees learned more about common stormwater pollutants and ways they can take action to keep California’s water clean.
The “Trash Castle” installation was a temporary art piece made out of reclaimed plastics and other discarded materials to represent the thousands of pounds of trash that accumulates on our state beaches and enters our waterways every year.
“Trash Castle” represents a removal of pollutants from our waterways and the beginning of how we can regenerate damaged ecosystems that are deeply present in disproportionately burdened communities. This illustrates how we can avoid “Tides of Trash,” where pollution overtakes our precious resources that are key to our vitality.
Stormwater Links
Stormwater Program "Trash Castle" PSA
The “Trash Castle” installation is a temporary art piece made out of reclaimed plastics and other discarded materials to represent the thousands of pounds of trash that accumulates on our state beaches and enters our waterways every year.
“Trash Castle” represents a removal of pollutants from our waterways and the beginning of how we can regenerate damaged ecosystems that are deeply present in disproportionately burdened communities. This illustrates how we can avoid “Tides of Trash,” where pollution overtakes our precious resources that are key to our vitality.
Richard and Judith Lang, a married collaborative team of artists, have made it their passion to collect and transform plastic debris from Kehoe Beach in Northern California into works of art for the past 23 years. Their collection efforts have resulted in over two tons of material being removed from the beach and several art pieces for the public to enjoy. Their goal is to show the essence of the material as it is, with minimal artistic manipulation. The end result is often a new awareness of how trash can be reinvented into something beautiful.
Their artwork has been featured in over 70 exhibitions in galleries and museums; educational and science centers including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artist Windows, the United Nations World Environment Day, the Cummings Gallery at Stanford University, and the University of San Francisco. Their work was recently exhibited at the California Academy of Sciences, Sausalito's Marine Mammal Center, The Oakland Museum, and Hong Kong's Ocean Film Festival. Since 1999, they have been close collaborators and have been featured in over 70 exhibitions in galleries and museums.
Community Clean Ups
Help clean up your community and check out these events!
Clean Up Events
Coastal Cleanup Day Partner Events Throughout CA, September 1st – 30th
During Coastal Cleanup Day (Month), our partners committed to hosting cleanup events all throughout California. The events took place near their local bodies of water whether that be creeks, rivers, lakes streams or Ocean. Below is a recap of our collective efforts to keep our highways and waterways clean.
San Diego River Park Foundation Clean Up Event on Saturday, September 24th
The Caltrans Stormwater Program collaborated with San Diego River Park Foundation to host a cleanup event at Ocean Beach. This event had 25 volunteers who collected 2,100 pounds of trash.
Coastal Keepers Clean Up Event on Saturday, September 17 at Ormond Beach
The cleanup hosted by Coastal Keepers, sponsored by the Caltrans Stormwater Program, collected 1,000 pounds of trash thanks to the 60 volunteers who came out to help. At the event, Caltrans provided educational materials such as tire pressure gauges, pet waste bag dispensers, infographics and localized pollutant of concern guides to share clean water habits.
Santa Barbara 805 Coastal Keeper Clean Up Event on Saturday, September 17th
The cleanup hosted by 805 Coastal Keepers, sponsored by the Caltrans Stormwater Program, collected 101 pounds of trash thanks to the volunteers who came out to help. At the event, staff distributed Let’s Change This to That pollutants of concern guides, tire pressure gauges, and pet waste bag dispensers.
Mile Steward River & Great American River Clean Up Event on Saturday, September 17th & Sunday, September 18th
The Caltrans Stormwater Public Education Campaign sponsored a two-day cleanup event to celebrate Coastal Cleanup Day from September 17 through September 18 at American River Parkway. The event had over 1,300 volunteers who collected 41,000 pounds of trash from local waterways.
Orange County Coastkeepers Coastal Clean Up Day on Saturday, September 17th
The Caltrans Stormwater Public Education Campaign collaborated with Orange County Coastkeepers to host cleanup events throughout Southern California. The cleanup events included 2,747 volunteers who collected 11,966.14 pounds of trash.
California State Parks Foundation Cleanup Event Tuesday September 6th
In collaboration with the California State Parks Foundation, the Caltrans Stormwater Public Education Program sponsored a park cleanup at the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. With the help of 10 volunteers, 12 bags of trash and 3 bags of recycling were collected & properly disposed of.
American River Parkway Clean Up Event on Saturday, August 20th
The Caltrans Stormwater Public Education Campaign sponsored a cleanup event at the America River Parkway. A total of 500 pounds of trash was removed with the help of several volunteers.
Heal the Bay Clean Up Event on Saturday, August 20
Caltrans Stormwater partnered with Heal the Bay for the ‘Nothin’ but Sand Beach Cleanup at Venice Beach. With the help of 274 attendants, we were able to collect 133.5 pounds of trash.
Orange County Coastkeeper Clean Up Event on Saturday, August 13
The Caltrans Stormwater Program sponsored a cleanup event in partnership with the Orange County Coastkeeper at Huntington State Beach. Thank you to the volunteers who collected 500 pounds of trash.
American River Parkway Clean Up Event on Sunday, July 17
The Caltrans Stormwater Program sponsored a cleanup on July 17 at American River Parkway. Volunteers at the site collected 500 pounds of trash.
Orange County Coastkeeper Clean Up Event on Saturday, July 16
Caltrans Stormwater partnered with the Orange County Coastkeeper to hold a cleanup event at San Clemente State Beach. Thank you to the volunteers who collected 130 pounds of trash.
Orange County Coastkeeper Clean Up Event on Saturday, July 9
Caltrans Stormwater partnered with the Orange County Coastkeeper to hold a cleanup event at Huntington State Beach. The volunteers collected 189 pounds of trash.
Folsom Lake State Beach Clean-up on July 5, 2022
After the Fourth of July holiday, 22 volunteers gathered at Folsom Lake State Beach to collect 30 bags of trash.
Sustainable Saturday: American River Parkway on June 11, 2022
Caltrans Stormwater partnered with the American River Parkway to collect over 200 pounds of trash with the help of 40 volunteers.
American River Parkway on Saturday, May 21
The Caltrans Stormwater Program sponsored a cleanup on May 21 at American River Parkway. 29 volunteers attended picking up a total of 350 pounds of trash.
Huntington State Beach Clean Up Event on Saturday, May 14
The Caltrans Stormwater Program organized a cleanup event at Huntington State Beach. Over 400 volunteers attended, picking up 145 pounds of trash across the beach.
American River Parkway Clean Up Event on Friday, April 22
Caltrans Stormwater partnered with the American River Parkway to collect over 2,000 pounds of trash with the help of over 60 volunteers. The most interesting items discovered included a sink and a loveseat from a vehicle.
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