Trash Travels. So Can Change. Creek to Bay Day in the East Bay

On a September morning last year, Oakland neighbors pulled on gloves, bent to the ground, and began filling bags. They worked in creekbeds and on street corners, under freeway ramps and alongside storm drains—the ordinary places where trash makes its quiet escape. By the day’s end, 650 volunteers had cleared nearly 4,700 gallons of debris from Oakland’s streets and waterways, with another 3,900 gallons of green waste piled high.

This wasn’t a one-off act of tidying. It was Creek to Bay Day, Oakland’s local chapter of the statewide California Coastal Cleanup, the largest volunteer event in the state. While the name may conjure images of sandy beaches, the truth is that cleanup starts inland—because that’s where the trash starts, too. A candy wrapper tossed outside a corner store. A bottle cap slipped from an overflowing bin. A cigarette flicked from a car window. Wind and rain do the rest, carrying small, forgettable items into storm drains, through creeks, and down to the Bay.

And Oakland isn’t alone. Across the East Bay, from Berkeley’s shoreline to Alameda’s Crown Beach, communities turn out for the same day of action, coordinated by the California Coastal Commission and supported by the year-round work of the Clean Water Program. Piedmont, without a dedicated site of its own, sends volunteers into Sausal Creek alongside Scouts and neighborhood groups—protecting the same watersheds that frame our Piedmont real estate communities. In Moraga, Orinda, and Lafayette, local creek organizations rally neighbors for cleanups that may not always carry the Creek to Bay banner but deliver the same result: cleaner watersheds, healthier habitat, visible pride.

The results prove something simple and important: trash travels, and so can change.

 

 

The Path of Trash: How Litter Reaches the Bay

Picture it. A fast-food wrapper abandoned by a bus stop. A cigarette butt ground into the gutter. A heap of plastic cups after an outdoor event. The Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Program calls it “trash pathways”—the routes litter takes from our hands to the ocean. Some are obvious: illegal dumping straight into creekbeds. Others are deceptively small: a plastic straw wrapper snatched by wind, carried by rain, and flushed into storm drains. Once it enters the system, it’s almost impossible to catch.

That’s why the top items collected at every Coastal Cleanup are the same: cigarette butts, wrappers, bottle caps, plastic bags. They’re light, forgettable, and devastatingly persistent. Each year, Californians remove hundreds of thousands of them in a single day. And each year, millions more escape.

 

 

Why Creek to Bay Day Matters in Oakland and the East Bay

Oakland’s creeks are not decoration; they are living corridors weaving natural space through dense neighborhoods, from Oakland homes to the Bay. When they’re clogged with plastics and toxins, the whole system suffers. Habitat shrinks. Flood risk rises. And what begins as a local nuisance becomes a regional problem, flowing downstream into the estuary, the Bay, and eventually the Pacific.

But the flip side is equally true. Every bag filled, every butt collected, every bottle cap removed shifts the balance back toward health. What happens here doesn’t just stay here—it restores a corridor that serves the whole.

 

 

Proof of Impact: California Coastal Cleanup by the Numbers

Numbers help make the invisible visible:
• In Oakland alone last year: 4,700 gallons of trash removed in one day.
• At the Port of Oakland, 350 volunteers hauled debris from shoreline parks.
• Across California: 28,751 volunteers cleared more than 250,000 pounds of trash during Coastal Cleanup Day.

Over nearly four decades, volunteers statewide have removed more than 27 million pounds of trash. The sheer scale can sound daunting. But read it another way: this is proof that people showing up, bag by bag, alters the course of rivers, creeks, and coastlines.

 

 

How to Get Involved in Creek to Bay Day

The beauty of Creek to Bay Day is not its spectacle but its accessibility. Anyone can do it. You don’t need gear beyond gloves, a bag, and a willingness to look down and pick up what others leave behind. The day is a rally, but the real shift is in the small, daily gestures:

• Carry a reusable bag or bottle.
• Secure your bins and vehicle loads so nothing escapes.
• Pick up the lone wrapper at your feet.
• Say yes when a neighbor group calls for volunteers.

Stacked together, these small acts ripple into culture. They turn cleanups from an annual event into a habit that changes what flows downstream.

 

 

The Bigger Picture: From Oakland Creeks to California’s Coastline

Creek to Bay Day is anchored in Oakland, but it connects to something wider. The California Coastal Commission sets the stage, coordinating hundreds of sites statewide. The Clean Water Program strengthens the backbone, working year-round in Alameda County to reduce stormwater trash and install capture systems. Local groups—Friends of Sausal Creek, East Bay Beautiful, neighborhood associations—carry the torch in between.

It’s a web of effort. And when you zoom out, the message is simple: trash may travel, but so can change.

This Saturday, September 20th, you’re invited to join. One bag matters. One block matters. One morning of work matters. Together, the tide turns. And if you can’t make the date, make the pledge to pick up a little something when you can. It matters.

While this year we are not hosting a Cush-sponsored event, keep a lookout for future Cush Real Estate green initiatives—and join us in the commitment to stewardship year-round.

 

 

Community	Organization	What They Do / How to Get Involved	Website
Oakland	Oakland Public Works – Creeks & Watersheds / Adopt a Spot & Drain	Volunteer to clean & restore creeks, shores, storm drains; habitat restoration; city-wide creek & watershed work.	oaklandca.gov › Volunteer to Clean and Restore Oakland’s Creeks and Watersheds
Keep Oakland Beautiful	Organizes events like Creek to Bay Day, Great American Cleanup; regular cleanup & beautification projects.	keepoaklandbeautiful.org › Volunteer
Friends of Sausal Creek	Neighborhood-scale creek cleanups, restoration, volunteer site leads.	sausalcreek.org › Get Involved
Piedmont	Piedmont Land Conservancy	Land conservation + restoration projects, occasional volunteer work in and around Piedmont.	piedmontland.org › Volunteer
Berkeley	City of Berkeley – Coastal Cleanup Day & Waterfront Cleanups	Hosts annual Coastal Cleanup Day sites (Berkeley Waterfront, Aquatic Park), organizes shoreline cleanups.	berkeleyca.gov › Coastal Cleanup Day 2025
Shark Stewards	Volunteer groups cleaning up Berkeley’s waterfront (Aquatic Park, Bay shoreline) on Coastal Cleanup Day.	sharkstewards.org › California Coastal Cleanup Day – Aquatic Park
Alameda	Alameda Creek Alliance	Creek watershed restoration, habitat & species protection, volunteer monitoring, trash cleanup days.	alamedacreek.org › Volunteer
Clean Water Program (Alameda County)	Supports and coordinates volunteer activities across Alameda County — litter cleanups, creek restoration, community outreach.	cleanwaterprogram.org › Get Involved
La Morinda (Moraga / Orinda / Lafayette)	East Bay Beautiful – Clean Up Moraga!	Local cleanup + anti-dumping + public outreach work in Moraga.

 

At Cush, we believe caring for community means caring for every corner of it—from creeks and parks to the neighborhoods we call home. When you’re ready to make your next move, partner with a team as committed to stewardship as we are to real estate. Let’s build a future—cleaner, stronger, together.