Beach Cleanup

Watershed Brigade Hits Major Milestone: 50,000 Pounds of Trash Removed from the Environment

June 30, 2025 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

From local shorelines to urban streets, volunteers across from across the region have helped the Watershed Brigade reach an inspiring milestone—removing over 50,000 pounds of trash from our environment.

Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade, a community-powered initiative focused on tackling pollution and protecting water resources, is celebrating a major victory in its ongoing mission to keep our watersheds clean and healthy. Since its inception in 2020, this community cleanup program has empowered 2,067 volunteers from Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties to take direct action against trash and marine debris. Now, thanks to thousands of hours of service and unwavering community support, the Watershed Brigade has officially surpassed 50,000 pounds of trash collected and removed.

A Hands-On Approach to Change

More than just a cleanup crew, the Watershed Brigade blends environmental action with education and advocacy. Volunteers aren’t just picking up litter—they’re learning about the systems and behaviors that contribute to pollution and working together to create solutions.

“Every cleanup is an opportunity to connect people to their environment,” said program leader Veronica Moran. “Our volunteers see the impact of pollution up close, and they come away empowered to make change—not just on cleanup days, but in their daily lives.”

More Than Just Numbers

The 50,763 pounds of trash collected during the group’s 1,803 cleanups include thousands of plastic bottles, cigarette butts, lobster traps, food wrappers, tires, and other debris that would have otherwise harmed wildlife, contaminated waterways, and degraded public spaces.

This milestone is also a symbol of collective impact, with the program uniting hundreds of volunteers around a shared goal of environmental stewardship.

Education, Advocacy, and Momentum

One of the strengths of the Watershed Brigade lies in its three-pronged approach: volunteerism, education, and advocacy. Events often include workshops or briefings about local water issues, recycling best practices, and policy advocacy efforts. By fostering understanding and action, the program is building a community of informed environmental champions.

And the work is far from over.

“This milestone is just the beginning,” says Moran. “It shows what’s possible when people come together with purpose. With every cleanup, we’re not just removing trash, we’re building a movement.”

Join the Brigade

As the Watershed Brigade looks toward its next 50,000 pounds, the call to action is clear: Get involved. Whether it’s participating in a local cleanup or spreading awareness about the impacts of trash on the environment, there are myriad ways to take action.

To learn more about the Watershed Brigade, find upcoming events, or organize a cleanup, visit sbck.org/brigade or follow @Watershedbrigade on Instagram.

Our next cleanup event takes place on Saturday, July 5th, from 9 am to 11 am at four locations along Santa Barbara’s waterfront. Watershed Brigade volunteers will partner with the City of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Department to clear these areas of trash resulting from the July 4th holiday. Sign up here.

Watershed Brigade Hosted Cleanups Inspire Awareness and Action

May 21, 2025 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

“How long do you think it would take this plastic water bottle to break down?” Veronica Moran, Channelkeeper ‘s all-star program assistant, asks a group of cleanup volunteers.

“Forty years!” a young woman exclaims. “One hundred!” another responds.

“Good guesses! Actually, it’s more like 400 years,” Moran explains, “and these items are never really gone, they just break down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic. That’s why the work you’re doing to remove trash from the beach is so important!”

Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade organizes hosted cleanups for school groups, companies, churches, and organizations. During these events, participants clear a stretch of beach of trash, removing items like cigarette butts, plastic lids, food wrappers, and cans. Once they have cleaned up the area, they weigh the trash they have collected and play the game “How Long Until It’s Gone?” which involves guessing the lifespan of the items they have found.

At hosted cleanups, participants also learn about the land-sea connection and the importance of removing trash from areas throughout the watershed to prevent debris from flowing down stormdrains, creeks, and rivers and into the ocean.

To demonstrate this connection, Moran relates the story of the Ojai Rubbish trash can that Channelkeeper staff removed from Santa Cruz Island last year, after powerful winter storms sent debris down the Ventura River and into the Santa Barbara Channel. Debris like this trash can, she explains, ended up on remote beaches of the Channel Islands, underscoring the importance of trash cleanups on the mainland.

This year, the Watershed Brigade has led eleven hosted cleanups, including the Santa Barbara School of Squash, the Turner Foundation, Camp Towanka, and the National Association of Federal Equity Receivers.

The Watershed Brigade’s hosted events are a positive and productive way for groups to work collaboratively to benefit the environment while also learning about the wonders of the Santa Barbara Channel.

To join the Watershed Brigade, click here or follow us on Instagram (@Watershedbrigade).

Storm Response Cleanup

December 21, 2023 by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

Help Keep Trash Out of the Santa Barbara Channel

Every time it rains, stormwater enters the City of Santa Barbara’s storm drain system and flows untreated to the ocean. On its way, this water picks up trash and debris that litters our streets and sidewalks. A lot of this trash ultimately ends up on our beaches. Wildlife can ingest and/or become entangled in plastic and other pieces of trash. Stormwater is a major source of pollution for our creeks, wetlands, and ocean.

Cleaning up the mess and keeping trash out of the ocean is a massive job that calls for the Watershed Brigade! This litter-fighting group of Channelkeeper volunteers acts as the last line of defense by heading out in groups or on their own to remove trash from city streets, trails, parks, and beaches before it can be swept into the ocean. Volunteers clean up trash higher in the watershed prior to forecasted rain events to prevent trash from entering storm drains and along the coast after storms.

Interested in conducting a Watershed Brigade storm response cleanup? Before you head out, take a look at our cleanup safety guidelines. Important storm-related guidelines include checking the local weather forecast and tide levels; wearing protective clothing, shoes, and gloves; and remembering to put your personal safety first. High tides, waves, outflows, and currents can be dangerous during and after storms. To minimize potential health risks, Santa Barbara County Environmental Health Services recommends that people do not swim, play, or surf in the ocean and creeks for at least three days (72 hours) following a significant rainfall event.

Channelkeeper has trash grabbers, bags, gloves, and buckets that volunteers are welcome to borrow and use. We’re grateful for your help to remove trash and debris from our coastline.

In an effort to stop the flow of pollution into our local waterways and prevent the need for future storm response cleanups, Channelkeeper also continuously advocates for upstream solutions. We have worked along with partner organizations to convince municipalities across our region to adopt ordinances that ban the distribution of plastic grocery bags, Styrofoam takeout containers, and plastic straws, stirrers, and cutlery. In addition, we work to educate the community about the impacts of single-use plastics on our oceans, wildlife, and human health. Channelkeeper also supports an initiative spearheaded by Abblitt’s Fine Cleaners to recycle film plastic.

To join the Watershed Brigade, visit our webpage, join our Facebook Group, or follow us on Instagram (@Watershedbrigade).