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COMMUNITY CLEANUPS
Napa RCD hosts community cleanups year-round, ranging from small neighborhood events to large, countywide efforts. Join us and help #KeepNapaClean!
Waterway Keepers (WWK), launched by Napa Valley CanDo, began with a few neighbors collecting trash and has grown into a dedicated river cleanup program. The Earth Day Napa Community Cleanup (EDN) takes place each April in coordination with the Earth Day Napa Festival, covering multiple sites across the City of Napa. Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD), held every September with the California Coastal Commission, is a countywide, multi-site cleanup open to volunteers of all ages.
In partnership with regional universities, RCDs, and nonprofits, Napa RCD has put together a guide to running Cleanups with Compassion near and with our unhoused neighbors. Individual pages from the full guide are linked below.
March 2026
April 2026
How can I get involved?
Interested in coordinating a cleanup for your group? Reach out to Ashley- we proudly support local nonprofits and community groups free of charge when we can. If you’re looking to volunteer solo, explore our events calendar for opportunities and contact Ashley with any questions.
Contact
If you would like to support our program monetarily to ensure more frequent cleanups, thank you! Please contact Ashley for more information.
Ashley Kvitek
Senior Volunteer Project Manager
(707) 690-3117
Learn More
Cleanups with Compassion- Get Started
Cleanups with Compassion is a Best Practices Guide for planning volunteer cleanups near and with unhoused neighbors. This guide was created by a partnership between UC Davis, San Jose State University, UC Cooperative Extension, Napa RCD, Contra Costa RCD, North Santa Clara RCD, Northwestern University, and SafeR3, with contributions from local nonprofits throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
How to Use This Guide
There is a landing page that can be shared with organizations running cleanups, or looking at getting started running cleanups. The landing page has QR codes that can be scanned from a printed copy, and links that can be followed from a shared PDF. Links lead to five different guides, all linked below for easy access.
With questions, please reach out to Ashley@NapaRCD.org
BEFORE a Cleanup- Cleanups with Compassion
Before a Cleanup
Use this checklist to make sure you’ve done your due diligence before you get out to the cleanup site. This covers everything from landowner access to figuring out who will dispose of the trash you’ve picked up.
Supplies Checklist- Cleanups with Compassion
Supplies Checklist
Everything you should bring with you for the day of your cleanup, from a welcome poster and liability waivers to a sharps container and trash grabbers.
DURING a Cleanup- Cleanups with Compassion
Day of the Cleanup
Walk through the full day- what should you be doing at each step? There’s a sample script that includes a safety talk and a section on encampment safety and compassion, if it is applicable to your site.
AFTER a Cleanup- Cleanups with Compassion
After a Cleanup
What needs to happen once the cleanup is done and your volunteers go home? It’s important to thank your volunteers, report your impact to those that helped make it happen, evaluate what went well and what could be improved (and let us know what we could do to make this guide better!), and make sure your cleanup doesn’t need a cleanup of its own- has the trash been taken care of by the folks that were responsible for disposing of it?
Low-Impact Restoration- Cleanups with Compassion Bonus Tasks
Low-Impact Restoration- Cleanups with Compassion
If you’ve got time and the people to make it happen, why not go a step further and help restore the area you’ve just cleaned up? If there isn’t an active encampment and you don’t expect one to return, or you have a good relationship with the folks living in nearby encampments, do some low-impact restoration and if appropriate, ask residents to help keep an eye on the plants.