Explore Ecology invites community members to participate in Santa Barbara County’s Coastal Cleanup Day, 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Sept. 21.

From Jalama to Rincon, volunteers will come together to help clean beaches, parks and waterways. Participants can check out the cleanup sites and select a favorite beach, park or creek to help clean.

Sign up at https://exploreecology.org/coastal-cleanup-day/?mc_cid=7b4fd574bf&mc_eid=d2c747cdaf.

To pre-register and be entered in a drawing to win prizes from local businesses, visit ExploreEcology/CCD.org.

Participants can bring their own cleanup supplies or use Explore Ecology’s tools.

Over the past 40 years, Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers have removed more than 27 million pounds of trash from California’s coastlines, Explore Ecology reports.

Every piece of trash picked up helps protect marine animals from harmful debris.

Those who can’t attend Coastal Cleanup Day can still support the cause by doing their own cleanups throughout September and uploading what they find to the CleanSwell app using the group name Explore Ecology. What is found will be counted in the final Coastal Cleanup Day results.

Coastal Cleanup Day is presented by Explore Ecology and Santa Barbara County Resource Recovery and Waste Management, with support from the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta and Solvang.

The California Coastal Commission organizes the statewide event and the international event is organized by the Ocean Conservancy.