Golden State Today

California is commemorating a significant milestone with its key initiative to beautify communities across the state, creating over 18,000 jobs. The program has removed more than 2.6 million cubic yards of litter—enough to cover nine lanes of Interstate 5 with an inch of trash from San Diego to the Canadian border.

SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative celebrated three years of service today in statewide beautification and cleanup projects. Launched in July 2021, the $1.2 billion initiative continues to enhance the state’s highway system and local communities by removing large quantities of trash and investing in hundreds of transformative local projects.

“For decades, trash piled up on California’s highways and in our communities without a concerted, comprehensive effort to clean it up. Three years ago, Clean California became our answer,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “Countless neighborhoods in every corner of our state are cleaner and healthier thanks to Clean California.”

Governor Newsom also tweeted about the progress: “3 years since launching Clean California, @CaltransHQ has completed more than 42,000 cleanups, creating over 18,000 jobs in the process. The work doesn’t stop here. California is providing cleaner and safer communities for all.”

Thanks to Caltrans and its partners, Clean California has:

- Hauled away more than 2.6 million cubic yards of litter.

- Hosted more than 500 free dump days statewide.

- Collected over 12,000 mattresses.

- Collected 50,000 tires.

- Enlisted nearly 60,000 community clean-up volunteers.

- Created over 18,000 jobs including positions for individuals who were formerly incarcerated or experiencing housing insecurity.

The program’s first three years saw a surge in cleanup crews collecting trash on public highway rights-of-way while promoting a zero-litter philosophy within local communities. So far, 94 out of 312 projects have been completed with another 171 expected to finish within the next year.

For example, Kern County recently celebrated completing a major parks project in Lost Hills that benefited from a $2 million Clean California grant. This included new play facilities, ADA-compliant sidewalks, sports fields, running tracks, and community centers.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for this project, Rosario Velasquez remarked: “Forty years ago I did not have this kind of park for myself as a child...for me to bring my kids to this amazing structure...it’s become something very special where I don’t want to move out of Lost Hills.”

Clean California has also invested heavily in community engagement and education aimed at sustaining anti-litter efforts into the future. This has resulted in Adopt-A-Highway participation increasing by 50%, from approximately 3,000 to around 4,500 stretches of state roads being adopted by the public.

For more information about these initiatives visit CleanCA.com.

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