VolunteerCleanUp.com Connects Volunteers and Organizers

Surfing’s Evolution & Preservation Foundation congratulates the VolunteerCleanup.Org team on a year of meaningful impact, advancing beach cleanup efforts and environmental action.

VolunteerCleanUp.Org is building a grassroots movement to address the marine debris crisis by providing tools that connect people, facilitate educational cleanups and drive meaningful change around single-use plastics. Their website is the go-to online destination to connect volunteers to local cleanups.

We are proud to partner with this organization and support programs that closely align with our mission through proceeds from the Endless Summer© Specialty License Plate. This year, our support helped fund 28 community beach cleanup ‘Supply Grants’ which resulted in 112 cleanups that engaged over 2,000 volunteers collecting thousands of pounds of debris, with a $147,000 value in volunteer time. This also enabled the distribution of more than 2,000 reusable pocket ashtrays at festivals and through retailers—reducing cigarette litter at its source by educating smokers that cigarette butts are not biodegradable and pollute our land and waters.

Beyond beach cleanups, VolunteerCleanup.Org also champions ocean-protective government policies, raises funds to sustain environmental programs affected by legislative budget cuts, and leads public awareness campaigns. Through the launch of a new fundraising platform, Trashathon.org, they expand impact in local neighborhoods by enabling schools and community groups to raise money through per-pound cleanup pledges—turning environmental action into local investment.

Since 2014, VolunteerCleanup.Org has helped facilitate 5,458 cleanups, with 272,900 volunteers participating, and 1,364,500 pounds of debris removed from beaches, parks, and ocean environments.

Looking ahead to 2026, VolunteerCleanup.Org aims to expand into new coastal communities and advance SB 240, a bill to establish the state’s first Marine Debris Reduction Plan, which successfully passed its first Senate committee stop in 2025.

The Endless Summer© Pocket Ashtray