Another Successful Beautify Goleta Event: Save the Date Sep. 20

175 Pounds of Trash and 12,000 Pounds of Unwanted Items Collected

There is less trash on the ground and homes/garages are less cluttered after a productive Beautify Goleta Plastic Free July event. Close to 30 volunteers, many of them families, spent their Saturday morning, July 19, 2025, giving back to the community by participating in a Community Cleanup. Together, they cleaned up 175 pounds of trash from the Ellwood and Marketplace neighborhoods. Also 64 vehicles dropped off a combined total of 12,000 pounds of unwanted items in a free bulky item drop-off nearby on Phelps Road.

Dan Rowell, City of Goleta’s Environmental Services Project Manager, said, “Beautify Goleta isn’t just about picking up trash, it’s about being a part of the community. There are so many good people in the Goodland eager to give back. It’s great to see families, new friends, and old friends, all coming together to learn about sustainable plastic-free lifestyle choices and keep Goleta clean and beautiful.”

A big thank you to Valerie with Mission Refill for being a Team Captain. She provided free soap refills to volunteers who brought their own jars and also had a bird feeder activity for the kids to do before or after picking up litter.

Even though our Plastic Free July Beautify Goleta event is over, we encourage you to think about how to reduce your plastic use year-round. The City’s Plastic Free Goleta plastic pollution reduction policy includes regulations to reduce the sale and distribution of:

Disposable single-use plastic cutlery and straws
Polystyrene food ware
Polystyrene packing materials and coolers
Polystyrene egg cartons, meat trays, and produce trays
Mylar® or foil balloons and the release of any balloons

Watch a video on Plastic Free Goleta, featuring the City’s Sustainability Manager Dana Murray, here: https://youtu.be/riwTyWkGwdw. It can also be viewed in Spanish at https://youtu.be/XpCJZ1mt6oQ. More information about Plastic Free Goleta is available on our website at www.CityofGoleta.org/PlasticFreeGoleta.

Save the date for our next Beautify Goleta event – Saturday, September 20, as part of Creek Week and Coastal Cleanup Day. For more information on Beautify Goleta, go to www.CityofGoleta.org/BeautifyGoleta.

A family volunteering together and getting ready to start picking up trash