Clean Up Tacoma 2025

This year, 350 Tacoma will be hosting a series of trash clean ups at different locations around the city. We will be partnering with a variety of organizations and community groups to involve as many community members as possible.

As we select locations, we’re keeping in mind which places have debris that is likely to make it into our waterways, which areas are typically underserved by services, and which communities have bad scores on the health and equity index maps. Let us know if you want to nominate a location by emailing 350tacoma@gmail.com

Stewardship is a core value of 350 Tacoma. We must care for Mother Earth, care for our shared home, and maintain a deep connection with our environment through acts of service.

This series was made possible by a grant from the Tacoma Sustainability Small Grants Program.

Upcoming Events

Our next clean up will be in July in partnership with the Black Panther Party and The Panther Party.

We are working on finalizing the location and date. More info coming soon!

Past Events

Road adjacent to qʷiqʷəlut ("little marsh")

Our first Clean Up Tacoma Event happened in March, near qʷiqʷəlut (“little marsh”) along the roadside, in the Port of Tacoma, cohosted by the Climate Catastrophe Ground Zero Coalition.

This location was in desperate need of care and with the help of almost 30 volunteers, we removed over 40 large black bags of trash and some furniture. More photos from the clean up coming soon.

Ceremonial Grounds

The Connection Day Clean Up took place at the Water Warriors Ceremonial Grounds, across the street from 4108 E 11th St, Tacoma. Hosted by 350 Tacoma, the Coast Salish Water Warriors, Native Daily Network, Climate Alliance of the South Sound, Chiapas Education Project & the Climate Catastrophe Ground Zero Coalition for a trash cleanup near the Hylebos Waterway. We were joined by about 20 volunteers.

This celebration draws inspiration from the Lakota saying “Mitakuye Oyasin”—“we are all related,” underlining the deep bond between each other and the Earth. Connection Day is a reflection of the Indigenous understanding that we are not separate from the Earth but a part of it. This will be the second annual Connection Day event.

We hosted a clean up at this same site last year for Connection Day. It was exciting to find that this special place had far less trash this year and previously. It was also noticeably more greenin places that were just dirt and sand last year including somenative medicine plants like plantain.

Scott Pierson Trail, South Tacoma

In May we partnered with the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council for a clean up along a section of the Scott Pierson Trail, and a Park & Ride, next to the Fircrest Gardens Apartments. We were joined by about 20 volunteers.

This location was in need of a cleanup! We removed a heaping truckload of discarded clothing, food packaging, broken glass, household items, burnt wood and other trash. In the grassy banks along the trail there were signs of previous camping. With the crisis of a lack of affordable housing, lack of services, and rising cost of living, more and more of our community members are forced to shelter wherever they can.