How you could win $1,000 this Saturday by picking up litter at the beach

For the past 40 years, thousands of people have fanned out across beaches, lakes, streams and parks every September for California’s Coastal Cleanup Day — the state’s largest annual volunteer event.

They have picked up litter to help improve the environment, protect wildlife and spend a few hours outdoors with family and friends. But this Saturday, on the event’s 41st year, there will be a new incentive: Prizes. Good ones. Actually.

In an effort to increase participation, which dropped during the COVID pandemic and has yet to fully recover, the California Coastal Commission will offer some impressive prizes hidden in small 4-inch wooden chests at cleanup sites around the state. More than 20 vouchers can be exchanged for such rewards as $1,000 in cash, two nights at the Sonoma Mission Inn