California Coastal Cleanup Day takes place on Saturday. It is a statewide event to help clean up litter and trash that could otherwise end up in the ocean.
In honor of the day, CalTrans is also hosting a free county-wide event that is helping San Diegans clean up their homes too. They are collecting oversized household items at four different locations throughout San Diego County from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., for free.
CalTrans Dropoff Sites
San Diego Locations:
- Southbound Interstate15/Mira Mesa Boulevard - 9650 Mira Mesa Boulevard (Northwest Corner of Mira Mesa Boulevard)
- Northbound Interstate 5/La Costa Avenue - 710 La Costa Avenue
- Northbound Interstate 805/Sweetwater Road - 2300 Sweetwater Road
- Westbound State Route 94/Lemon Grove Avenue - 7675 High Street (Northwest Corner of Lemon Grove Avenue)
Shawn Rizzutto is a maintenance program advisor and senior transportation engineer for CalTrans.
“This gives them an opportunity to properly dispose of debris and large items such as couches, beds, some things that may not be easily hauled off,” Rizzuto said. “We pretty much accept everything except for hazardous waste type things and biological waste.”
Rizzutto hopes this free drop-off event helps those who have been financially impacted by the pandemic and may not be able to afford the fee that comes with dropping off large items at a landfill.
“It could be as little as $25 to $50, upwards of $500 or maybe even more depending on how much material you’re trying to dispose of and what type of material you are trying to dispose of,” Rizzuto said.
CalTrans plans to recycle whatever materials can be recycled and repurpose other items.
“We have separate bins for tires, so tires can be ground up and turned into entryway mats. We also use ground up tires in our asphalt, our rhma, rubberized hot mix asphalt,” Rizzuto said.
The CalTrans event is one of many planned in the county. The city of San Diego has scheduled a cleanup in Ocean Beach starting at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
And there are events planned in the Mission Valley Preserve, the Tijuana River Valley and in University City.
“Make sure we maintain the beauty of San Diego, which we all appreciate everyday, but that sometimes can be blighted by debris and litter,” Rizzuto noted.
You can volunteer for an event online at cleansd.org.
