SOLVE Cleanup Registration Now Open for Earth Day on Oregon Coast

Published 03/29/23 at 6:50 AM
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) – Always known as the spring beach cleanup or fall cleanup on the Oregon coast, the volunteer organization SOLVE has for awhile been billing it as a great Oregon cleanup, coinciding with dozens of trash and litter pick-up events around the entire state. (Stonefield Beach near Florence, photo Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

This time around, it's called the Oregon Spring Cleanup, happening on April 22 – and it's now accepting registration for volunteers from the Oregon coast to the outer edges of eastern Oregon. Put together by SOLVE (once known as SOLV), this event takes place on Earth Day.

Literally thousands participate, and each year has generally seen more over the years. SOLVE said it's hoping for thousands again, as various groups host beach cleanups, litter projects and even habitat restoration events.

“Volunteer registration is now live, and all Oregonians are encouraged to sign up for this statewide event,” SOLVE said in a press release. “There are over 100 great Oregon Spring Cleanup opportunities for celebrating Earth Day on April 22nd for volunteers to choose from.”

Plastics collected by a beach cleanup, photo SOLVE

Last year's spring scouring brought in over 3,500 folks who grabbed some 44,000 pounds of litter and debris all over.

“Let's continue to build upon the momentum of last year’s events,” SOLVE said.

Each year always brings some unusual, even comical finds on the beaches. Some past years have included kitchen sinks – giving plenty of opportunities for the old joke “Everything including....”

In the early part of the 2010's, lots of tsunami debris from Japan was getting scoured off the beaches - a sad reminder of the tragedies there. There is always, however, a lot of debris from Asia likely coming from the vast Pacific gyre.

Other wacky finds have included custom glass balls from artists that were left on the beaches of the south and central coast, wire fencing at Bayocean, a bottle with a note inside at Port Orford, half a kayak near Florence and an aluminum boat near Port Orford.

Near Pacific City they once found an intact Saki bottle. Things that cause you to scratch your head a bit are occasionally found, like a fair amount of tires, large refrigerators and once there was a large find of sheet rock. Even entire cars have been found on rare occasions.

The opportunities on the Oregon coast are quite wide, and generally tied to one event or another. Just a handful of examples for meeting places include the Tillamook Forest, Bandon's Bastendorf Beach, Depoe Bay, Gold Beach, Cannon Beach, more than one spot in Newport, Lincoln City's D River access and the beach next to Devil's Punchbowl.

Events running from April 15th to April 23rd, 2023 are now open for volunteers to register at the website www.solveoregon.org.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Giant objects cleaned up at Wheeler

Devil's Punchbowl, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....

Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection
All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted