Since 1999, Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) has been coordinating April Earth Day events for Castro Valley. From the early days of the Festival and 5K Fun Run to the more recent Earth Day Clean-Up and Recycles Day, it has been our pleasure to serve the community each year with these events to support the environment.
The Earth Day Clean-Up and Recycles Day event has brought together 500 to 1,000 community volunteers every year to help with projects all around Castro Valley. Many Castro Valley schools also join the effort with staff, students, and family. Volunteers work together to beautify school campuses and clean up and enhance Castro Valley’s beautiful parks. Earth Day events puts into practice CVSan’s vision statement to practice environmental stewardship and to protect our resources.
CVSan Earth Day 2024
Earth Day Clean-Up is coming up on Saturday, April 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Volunteer Registration is Now Open
Volunteers are needed to beautify and clean up Castro Valley on Saturday, April 27, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., rain or shine. Scroll down for more information about the sites and to register.
Before the Clean-Up
1. Select a community site that you would like to volunteer at to help clean up and beautify. This is a great group project for your club, organization, family, troop/pack, or team. Tell others and sign up together! (If you are interested in participating at a school site, please contact school staff for more information on registration and participation)
2. Complete the community site volunteer registration online by April 18, 2024.
During the Clean-Up
1. Wear long pants and closed-toe shoes. Bring work gloves if you can, a water bottle, and snacks (if needed), and don't forget a hat!
2. Arrive at your clean-up site by 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 27th. Consider carpooling or walking to reduce air pollution.
3. A Clean-Up Facilitator will be at every site with materials for your project and safety guidelines. Volunteers will work until 12:00 p.m.
4. Leave bags and tools at the site when done.
*Please note that CVSan requires a parent or guardian for volunteers under the age of 18 to sign a registration and hold harmless agreement at the event.
COMMUNITY SITES
Site A: Castro Valley Creek
Castro Valley Creek
3627 Castro Valley Boulevard
Park and meet in the CVS parking lot area adjacent to creek, behind Kentucky Fried Chicken on Castro Valley Boulevard.
Activities: Spreading mulch, litter pickup, and invasive plant removal.
Site B: Downtown Castro Valley
Castro Valley Boulevard/Redwood Road area
Meet at 20980 Redwood Road parking lot.
Activities: Litter removal in Downtown Castro Valley along Castro Valley Boulevard (between Marshall Street and Wilbeam Avenue) and Redwood Road (between Lessley Avenue and Somerset Avenue).
Site C: Center Street Overpass and Park and Ride
Meet by the ForestR.org banners at the CalTrans gate just beside and east of Extra Space Storage on Castro Valley Boulevard near the intersection of Marshall Street.
Activities: Removal of illegally dumped litter from around the overpass area, the Park and Ride lots, and the land areas that span the East Interstate 580 freeway side.
Volunteers must be 16 years of age and up. All volunteers will need to complete the safety form with ForestR. It’s important to be there on-time since the first 20 minutes will be dedicated to going over the information found in the above safety form and any new instructions that ForestR has to share with volunteers. Volunteers should wear sturdy shoes and come in clothes they can get dirty in.
Site D: Dragonfly Park – Center Street and Castro Valley Boulevard
Meet by the ForestR.org banners at the CalTrans gate just beside and east of Extra Space Storage on Castro Valley Boulevard near the intersection of Marshall Street.
Activities: Removal of illegally dumped litter from around the park and freeway area.
Volunteers must be 16 years of age and up. All volunteers will need to complete the safety form with ForestR. It’s important to be there on time since the first 20 minutes will be dedicated to going over the information found in the above safety form and any new instructions ForestR has to share with volunteers. Volunteers should wear steady shoes and come in clothes they can get dirty in.
Site E: Lake Chabot Regional Park
Registration is closed for this site.
Site F: Adobe Park
Adobe Park
20395 San Miguel Avenue
Castro Valley, CA 94546
Meet Team Leaders from Hayward Area Recreation and Parks District (HARD) in the parking lot on the Lake Chabot Road side of the park.
Activities: Tree planting, litter pickup and weed removal.
Register for any of the sites above online here.
For school site registration please contact your school front office.
If you are interested in registering to volunteer, registration for all volunteers will be available here or at your school in February. CVSan will donate $5.00 to one of the following charities on behalf of each volunteer:
1. Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB) – ACCFB has been at the forefront of hunger relief efforts in the Bay Area since 1985. The Food Bank serves one in five Alameda County residents by distributing food through a network of 200 food pantries, soup kitchens, and other community organizations, as well as direct-distribution programs including Children‘s Backpack and Mobile Pantry. http://www.accfb.org
2. Castro Valley Arts Foundation (CVAF) – CVAF provides Castro Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) students and the community with artistic experiences that educate, enrich, and entertain by securing resources for the Castro Valley Center for the Arts. They are located adjacent to the Castro Valley High School stadium. The program brings art education programs to all grade levels and each season CVAF presents a series of varied performances including music, dance, lecture, and theater. Information on this organization is available at cvartsfoundation.org.
3. Friends of San Lorenzo Creek – Friends of San Lorenzo Creek (FSLC) promotes preservation, protection, and awareness of creeks in the 50 square miles of the San Lorenzo Creek watershed, including Castro Valley creeks. FSLC has coordinated Earth Day events, advocated for creek restoration projects such as the day-lighted creek at the Castro Valley Library, participated in the development of local public policies related to creeks, co-sponsored events such as the school creek-art contest with organizations such as Eden Township Health Care District, and worked to develop conservation easements. FSLC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public-benefit corporation. Information on this organization is available at friendsofsanlorenzocreek.org.
For more information about Recycles Day, please visit cvsan.org/RecyclesDay.
CVSan Earth Day 2023
In 2023 the community and schools participated in Earth Day Clean-Up events for the first time since 2019. On Saturday, April 22nd, over 460 members of the community participated in clean up projects around Castro Valley. CVSan connected volunteers with sites and helped schools with projects on their sites. Volunteers picked up litter, planted trees and native plans, spread mulch, pulled weeds, and much more. CVSan has previously coordinated Earth Day Clean-Up events each April for over 20 years to help the community celebrate Earth Day in a districtwide clean-up.
Thank you to ForestR.org for coordinating Earth Day Clean-Up around the freeway and underpasses by Center Street and Strobridge Avenue.
Thank you to sponsors for coordinating Earth Day Clean-Up at the following sites:
Castro Valley Community Park
Castro Valley Creek
Downtown Castro Valley
Lake Chabot Park
Thank you to these schools for coordinating Earth Day Clean-Up on their campuses:
Canyon Middle School
Castro Valley Adult and Career Education Strides Program
Castro Valley Elementary
Chabot Elementary
Independent Elementary
Palomares Elementary
Proctor Elementary
Redwood High
Stanton Elementary
CVSan’s Earth Day Clean-Up would not have been possible without the help of our sponsors:
Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program
Alameda County Industries
Alameda County Resource Conservation District
East Bay Regional Park District
Friends of San Lorenzo Creek
Hayward Area Recreation and Park District
Pete’s Ace Hardware
Starbucks
Supervisor Nate Miley
For information about Recycles Day, please visit cvsan.org/RecyclesDay.
Presented By:
Sponsored By:
For volunteer opportunities outside of Earth Day, please visit our gleaning web page.
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