On July 5, the day after July Fourth celebrations, Earth Heroes descended on Sharp Park Beach, Rockaway Beach, and Linda Mar State Beach in Pacifica to clean up fireworks debris, microplastics, and trash left behind. Our annual fireworks cleanup would not have been possible without the care and dedication of 154 volunteers, including a 98-year-old veteran (and the Head of the American Legion) and corporate teams from companies such as Nvidia.

Although it can be discouraging to see the trash strewn about our precious shoreline, we’re always inspired by the selfless volunteers who wake up early to join us in our mission. Every cleanup event is important, and this one in particular helps keep hundreds of thousands of toxic microplastics from entering the ocean and being accidentally gobbled up by marine life.

So how much did we collect? The results are in!

2025 Fireworks Cleanup Results

• 3 site locations
• 2,620 pounds of trash
• 11 pounds of recyclables
• 662 cigarette filters

In addition to sparklers, melted plastic cans, and the remnants of “safe and sane” fireworks, volunteers collected unique finds such as a broken camping chair and a plastic children’s slide, which was cleaned and re-homed.

Make a difference in your community this month.

There’s still more to clean up this July. Summer is an especially busy — and trashy — time with more visitors coming to the coast to relax on the beach, shop, and recreate. Our additional site locations will hold their usual cleanups all month long. Check out our calendar for more details.