You can sign up to join the next Balboa Park Cleanup! It’s taking place on Saturday, November 22, 2025 from 9 to 11 am.
Individuals, groups and families are invited to meet in the Plaza de Panama to take part. Trash bags, picker-upper instruments and other cleanup materials will be provided for volunteers!
Feeling inspired? Would you like to take part? It’s easy!
Sign up for the Cleanup event on the Forever Balboa Park website by clicking here!
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Would you like to help clean the wetlands of south San Diego Bay? Would you like to do so while kayaking on the beautiful water? Would you like to do so for free? YES!
No kayak, no problem. They’re provided. No experience kayaking, no problem. It’s easy going. Cleanup materials are provided, too.
Ocean Connectors organizes fun Kayak Cleanup Events that anyone can freely join. I happened to observe one such event today during my visit to Pepper Park in National City.
I spotted a sign concerning the event at the boat ramp, then wandered over to the parked Chula Vista Water Sports truck to ask all about it. Chula Vista Water Sports provides the kayaks. They partner with Ocean Connectors.
I saw the participating kayakers were busy across the Sweetwater River channel, removing bits of litter, cleaning our environment, cruising slowly, gently along. I think I might try this! Each event lasts 2 to 4 hours.
Check out this page to learn all about these Kayak Cleanup Events and book your future participation. Groups up to 15 can join. And yes, it’s all completely FREE!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Many members of the City Heights community came together today for a special event. After arriving at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park, the volunteers would spread out along University Avenue to clean and beautify their neighborhood. The event was called Beautify the Block!
A large number of people showed up! Some would pick up litter; others would paint sidewalk trashcans, planters or storefronts; and artists would paint utility boxes. Many of the volunteers represented SDG&E.
This was the first ever Beautify the Block event, and it’s hoped that it will grow and become an annual undertaking!
After reminding the volunteers to do their work safely, all were were given important encouragement. They would be showing the community that they care, and that the community matters.
This inspiring, super positive event was created by the City Heights Business Improvement District and the Maintenance Assessment District in partnership with local businesses and community members.
Every volunteer is a hero.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Members of the South Bay community gathered today in Chula Vista’s Bayfront Park for a great annual event. Today was South Bay Earth Day!
Organizations who are working toward a healthy natural environment provided information and opportunities to people who share their values. I walked about and learned a lot.
Yes–there was music and food trucks and fun activities, too. It was another wonderful day on beautiful San Diego Bay.
The City of Chula Vista had a big presence at South Bay Earth Day, including their Office of Sustainability.Learning about recycling and its benefits.A smile at The Water Conservation Garden table. I was just there yesterday! The garden is truly amazing! (My first blog post concerning that visit is here.)The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County had this plant display. Native plants in your landscaping conserves water.The Earth Discovery Institute had a display about Monarch butterflies. They were handing out seed packets for growing milkweed. Milkweed is the only food source for monarch caterpillars.Youth 4 a Sustainable Future includes 15 local schools. They are part of South Bay Sustainable Communities Network. They educate about sustainability, do community cleanups, distribute rescued food, host nature hikes…The Living Coast Discovery Center was showing this rosy boa snake.One of the creative activities at the event was making tie-dye shirts.Event visitors could also put together a small potted plant. Most appeared to be succulents.Handy members of San Diego Fixit Clinic were repairing assorted broken things–instead of sending them to the landfill.Republic Services was showcasing their electric garbage truck.A happy greeting from the San Diego Bird Alliance (used to be Audubon Society). These good people are busy protecting birds.Birds make us better!These smiles were at the Cabrillo National Monument table. (I recently walked down to their tidepools via the new Oceanside Trail. See those photos here.)If you’d like to volunteer at Cabrillo National Monument, there’s their email address!Here’s another smile! It’s at the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation table. They are a philanthropic partner of the National Park Service and help provide funds for the needs of Cabrillo National Monument. Their efforts include educational programs, conservation and community engagement.Stewie the green sea turtle was representing U.S. Navy Environmental. Check out his webpage here!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Lila and Corey Cleary-Stoner led a clean up event in Balboa Park yesterday. They and a group of caring volunteers walked around the park, removing litter from San Diego’s beautiful crown jewel, making it shine.
What was unique about this clean up? Lila and Corey combine litter removal with performance art. To attract interest from those nearby, they wear full Japanese costume and call their performance Cleanup Kitsune.
The two got the idea for Cleanup Kitsune from their attending Renaissance Fairs in costume. Both are Japanophiles. In Japan, they explained as I watched them sort collected trash, people are very careful about keeping their world clean and healthy. Why not inject some of that ethos here in San Diego?
According to the All Goods website: Since their launch in June 2023, CleanUp Kitsune has removed and sorted approximately 45,000 pieces/280lbs of litter & through their waste organization stations have diverted over 2000 pounds of waste from landfills. CleanUp Kitsune is also the recipient of the 2024 Enhancing Ecosystems sPARK award by Forever Balboa Park.
I spent much of Saturday morning wandering around Balboa Park, meaning to find Lila and Corey doing their thing in costume. I failed!
But I did find both speaking to the CleanUp Kitsune volunteers at the conclusion of the day’s effort. We all learned what sorts of trash can be recycled. Then the sorting began!
Thank you all for “littering kindness!”
This is what I missed:
I did discover volunteers picking up litter…
Forever Balboa Park and some friendly superheroes joined the effort!
Look at all the trash they collected! That’s Lila and Corey speaking to the assembled volunteers…
UPDATE!
Lila and Corey have told me that with nearly 40 volunteers they collected a total of 110.51 pounds of trash in Balboa Park. They diverted 49.55 pounds of trash from the landfill by separating waste into the following categories:
The cities of San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado were all made more beautiful this morning! Volunteers with Operation Clean Sweep fanned out to pick up litter on each city’s waterfront!
I happened to stumble upon the above group this morning as I walked along downtown San Diego’s Embarcadero. They posed for a photo!
I learned there are numerous sponsors for the big annual clean up event, which is organized by the San Diego Working Waterfront. You can see all of the sponsors by checking out the Operation Clean Sweep website here. Some of the smiling volunteers I encountered are with Old Town Trolley Tours.
As a resident of downtown San Diego, lover of the city and avid walker, I want to thank everyone involved!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
A special Earth Day event was held today in downtown San Diego. C Street Keeps It Green was the name of the fun environmental event, which took place–surprise!–on two blocks of C Street.
I saw inspirational art being created, spoke to representatives of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, checked out info presented by I Love a Clean San Diego, San Diego Community Power, and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, and enjoyed learning more about the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum–did you know every second Sunday they are open free to the public? There were smiling vendors, too, and music!
Enjoy some photographs and read the captions…
Inspirational art and messages are created on C Street in San Diego.Three Falls Brand had all sort of cool merch–many of the designs were a fusion of lucha libre wrestling and hard rock music.I learned the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum has an exhibition titled Poem ‘ Li Sao’, Qu Yuan & Dragon Boat Festival. The featured, very famous poem, by the father of Chinese romantic poetry, consists of more than 2,470 Chinese characters!Old photographs show how the Chinese played an important role in early San Diego history.Smiles by representatives of San Diego Community Power, which provides cleaner electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind at competitive rates.Another smile! Oside HandMade provided fun small potted plant projects for the Earth Day event.Creativity in action.San Diego County Bicycle Coalition provided all sorts of useful information.I Love a Clean San Diego told me about their recent Creek to Bay Cleanup. Tons of trash were removed from our precious waterways.I’m shown how small positive choices we make add up! And another big smile!Music for the event across C Street!Our beautiful planet Earth.A quote about nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.Shayna Goodwin, a San Diego Clean and Safe Ambassador, creates her first mural. And it’s absolutely incredible!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Would you like to help San Diego’s world-famous Balboa Park become even more beautiful? There are many volunteering opportunities for you to explore!
Today I spotted a bunch of volunteers picking up litter in the park. I learned from a friendly lady at the Forever Balboa Park canopy in the Plaza de Panama that a similar cleanup is scheduled for next weekend! Get your coworkers and friends involved!
I also learned an Arbor Day Tree Planting event that you can join is coming up! It will be on April 26th, from 9 am to 11 am.
Would you like to learn more? Check out the Forever Balboa Park volunteer web page here! And to remain informed, join their email list!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Old Town San Diego became even more beautiful today because of the work of about 60 volunteers during the 2024 Community Clean Up!
As I walked today, I noticed dozens of orange trash bags near a parking lot in Old Town. The bags were filled with litter, weeds and trimmed tree branches. I had stumbled upon an annual clean up organized by the Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce. Volunteers from Caltrans District 11 and the Mormon Battalion were pitching in, too!
A huge area was beautified–the entire Old Town community–from the entrance of Presidio Park, through the State Park, and all through the business district.
Thank you to everyone!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
I Love a Clean San Diego is a sentiment shared by many. It’s also a local environmental nonprofit that works to keep our city healthy and beautiful!
The above smiling folks were in Balboa Park today, greeting those passing over the Cabrillo Bridge. They were handing out flyers about preventing pollution, and letting people know of many community clean-ups and other environmental activities that would love your participation!
As I crossed the bridge and proceeded toward the heart of Balboa Park, I saw volunteers walking along picking up trash!
I checked out the I Love a Clean San Diego website and learned about their latest effort. A couple weeks ago, more than 5,000 San Diegans joined I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) for the 39th annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers across the region restored, beautified, and preserved the health of over 100 local parks, canyons, creeks, and beaches and joined volunteers in 150 countries across the globe. As of 2:30 p.m. and with 85% of sites reporting totals, over 76,800 pounds of litter and debris was diverted from San Diego communities.
Wow!
Did you take part? Would you like to participate in future cleanups and make a definite positive change? Check out the I Love a Clean San Diego event calendar by clicking here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 