Whether you’re local or traveling with friends, San Diego is a top destination for the Fourth of July celebrations. With big parties comes the aftermath: the Morning After Mess. At several spots all along our coast, people gather to watch the fireworks spectacular and often spend the whole day at the beach or bay.
Photo: I Love A Clean San Diego sorting debris at Fiesta Island.
At Surfrider, we call the next day the Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year because, regrettably, many people don’t pack out what they bring in. After just two hours of cleanup at five locations across the county, 521 volunteers removed 1,721 pounds of debris, preventing it from making its way into our waterways and onto our local beaches.
Five Sites. Three Partners. Friends of the Ocean. One Mission.
One of the many great things about San Diego is the ongoing collaboration among local organizations with closely aligned missions. Since its inception, Morning After Mess has been a collaborative effort, and the support of these long-time partners ensures we continue to expand our reach and amplify our mission across our coastline, especially at a time when it is needed most.
Our deepest gratitude goes out to all of you for being part of our 20th Annual Morning After Mess cleanup.
And we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge and thank the most vital part of every Morning After Mess: the dedicated activists and volunteers who meet us on the sand and in our public spaces year after year. They are an example of the environmental stewardship our ocean needs now more than ever.
Thank you to all 521 amazing people who came out to make this possible once again!
Photo: Young volunteer at South Ponto cleanup.
Our Collective Impact
Although our footprint was smaller than last year–nine sites, 2617 pounds removed, and 866 volunteers engaged–we averaged about 3.3 pounds of trash removed per volunteer, similar to last year's 3.02 pounds of trash per volunteer.
Some good news: that's an 8% decrease from last year's total of more than 75%.
Here are the totals for each site, and their respective impact reports:
Fireworks Go Boom
And despite
all consumer fireworks being illegal in the City and County of San Diego, we found 984 pieces of firework-related debris. As expected, the Fifth is the time of year when fireworks climb near the top of our item list, ranking seventh in 2026. For comparison, volunteers removed 2,155 pieces of firework debris in 2025 and 865 pieces in 2024. This year's lower total could be attributed, in part, to having four fewer cleanup sites than last year. Nonetheless, we find more firework debris on this day than any other day of the year.
Fireworks are a major source of pollution along our coast after Independence Day festivities. They're not only bad news for coastal seabirds—other local wildlife and people are also affected by their impacts.
Photo: Fireworks debris found at Oceanside cleanup.
Please help our friends at San Diego Bird Alliance and San Diego Coastkeeper collect information about trash and wildlife impacts, particularly dead or injured birds, along the shores of Mission Bay and the San Diego River mouth. The data they collect helps support the long-term effort to move away from fireworks. They've already made progress in Mission Bay and want to keep the momentum going in San Diego Bay.
More than a Beach Cleanup
“We are so proud and grateful for the community that showed up on the fifth of July for our countywide Morning After Mess cleanup—the dirtiest beach day of the year.
For the past 20 years, thousands of people have chosen to spend the morning after Fourth of July celebrations giving back to our coastline. This year, volunteers collected an average of nearly 3 pounds of trash per person, about the same as last year. While we're incredibly thankful for everyone who showed up, it also reminds us that there is still work to do. Cleanups are important, but they're not the end goal. By choosing to reuse, disposing of waste properly, and leaving the beach better than we found it, we can help protect our ocean, waves, and beaches.” – Joana Guerra, Chapter Manager
Become a Friend of the Ocean
Become a Friend of the Ocean by becoming a Surfrider member. Your donation directly supports our local efforts to protect our coast, funding cleanups like the Morning After Mess, driving grassroots advocacy, and powering year-round campaigns for clean water and plastic-free beaches. Join us today and help ensure San Diego’s ocean, waves, and beaches are protected for future generations.
Morning After Mess in the News