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Host an H2OC Cleanup

Preventing pollution from reaching Orange County’s creeks, rivers, and ocean is critical to the health of our communities and aquatic life. That’s why we are partnering with schools across OC to make it as simple as possible to host cleanups on their campuses. If you are a high school educator or student leader, we have everything you need to empower students to be water quality protectors! 

Why Are School Cleanups Important?

Unlike the sewer system (which does treat water), anything that flows into the storm drain system can go untreated into OC’s creeks, rivers, and ocean. If litter like bottles, cans, and food wrappers from school campuses are left on the ground instead of closed bins, they can be carried along with rainwater or irrigation runoff into Orange County’s waterways and cause harm. H2OC School Cleanups are one way that students can make a big impact in keeping our inland and coastal waters pristine. Since 2022, OC students have prevented 2,359 littered items from reaching our waterways by participating in H2OC School Cleanups.

How Do l Host an H2OC Cleanup?

School cleanups are FREE! H2OC is here to help support you through the process to make it as easy as possible. Follow the steps below to host your cleanup:

1. Fill out the interest form below.
2. An H2OC staff member will reach out to discuss your needs.
3. H2OC will provide you with everything you need to host a school cleanup (instructions, data sheets, buckets, grabbers, trash bags, gloves, etc.).
4. Host your cleanup.

Don’t Just Take Our Word for It

Here is what students and teachers have to say about H2OC cleanups:

“I enjoy school cleanups because you can see and participate in the direct impacts of removing litter.
Also, it increases student awareness!”
– Tesoro High School Student
“Using H2OC’s cleanup toolkit made a school cleanup more accessible and safer.
It provided a way to keep track of data and trends and that makes it more interesting to look back on.”
– Tesoro High School Student
“Organizing a school cleanup gave my students a sense of pride and accomplishment in giving back to our
school community. I would absolutely recommend other schools to this program. The H2OC staff is easy to
work with, program runs smoothly, and both the school and the students benefit from the experience!”
– AP Environmental Science Teacher & AVID Coordinator, Troy High School
“It feels good to talk to adults who care and are directly involved in environmental work.”
– Tesoro High School Student

School Cleanup Interest Form

If you’re interested, join other OC schools and submit this form. A member of the H2OC team will contact you with more information.

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Participation Highlights

Students across Orange County have a wonderful time participating in our cleanups! See some photos of previous events below:

Tesoro High School

Tesoro High School has conducted multiple cleanups since 2022!

Troy High School

Troy High School has conducted multiple cleanups since 2022!

Additional Resource

While our cleanups are only for high school students, elementary and middle school students can make an impact too. The California Coastal Commission created a resource to help young people of all ages cleanup their school and neighborhood.

California Coastal Commission Toolkit

Thank you for being the solution to runoff pollution!