LITTER CAMPAIGN
GUERNEVILLE
Have you seen creek critters like these cleaning up litter in your neighborhood? It’s time to pitch in and help your furry and feathered friends!
E.P.I.C - MAIN STREET
Located along the idyllic Russian River, the historic community of Guerneville boasts a vibrant assembly of shops, restaurants, and hotels with countless events and offerings to explore. This area attracts many visitors, especially in the summer months, thanks to its proximity to the River, local wineries, LGBTQ+ friendly celebrations and other outdoor delights.
Guerneville’s curb and gutter infrastructure supports a series of storm drains situated on Main Street and throughout adjacent neighborhoods, and they are especially vulnerable to receiving trash and litter from foot traffic, illicit dumping and overflowing trash cans. When it rains, these storm drains convey trash and other unwanted material directly to the Russian River, harming wildlife, human health and water quality.
While the County maintains and services a network of trash cans and dumpsters throughout the community, an influx of trash can quickly overwhelm these receptacles, especially in the summer months. Many Guerneville residents and business owners work nobly and tirelessly to remove this accumulated litter by hand on a routine basis, but they shouldn’t have to. Though this EPIC campaign, Sonoma County and its community partners seek to educate and inspire Guerneville visitors by promoting trash and litter awareness and the potential impacts on the Russian River ecosystem. To complement this campaign, the County has been exploring and funding additional structural improvements to further help alleviate Guerneville’s trash burden. Through this effort, the EPIC campaign seeks to instill a commitment to environmental stewardship for visitors to embrace during, and long after, their visit to Guerneville.
Guerneville is alive. Guerneville is vibrant. Guerneville is E.P.I.C!
The Campaign
When – April 22nd, 2025 through July 4th, 2025
E.P.I.C Clean Up Event on Earth Day
10 a.m. to noon
Meet at the Guerneville Plaza, Guerneville, CA 95446
Who
The City of Guerneville is launching an E.P.I.C outreach campaign on Main Street as a low cost alternative for eliminating trash from entering our community storm drains. To be successful, we need help from residents, community groups, and businesses in Guerneville to join us and take action together to eliminate trash from entering our storm drains and polluting our local waterways!
What
To build awareness in Guerneville, images of creek critters, like birds, otters, and squirrels will be installed along Main Street reminding all of us that our streets connect to our creeks. And our creeks are their home! Each critter is holding a piece of refuse identified by a specific color: Blue represents recycling, Green represents compostables, and Pink represents trash! Look for these unique art pieces around the area as you experience Guerneville.
Public perception is a major part of a trash free community. Studies have shown when an area is clean and litter free, people are less likely to exhibit behaviors which lead to increased trash on streets. To kick things off with our EPIC campaign, we will be hosting an Earth Day clean up event on Main Street and in the adjacent Guerneville neighborhoods on April 22nd.
Removing barriers to put trash in its place is another major step towards a clean community. New trash cans will soon be making their debut on Main St. thanks to Caltrans’ sidewalk improvements project. Additionally, the County is currently in the process of purchasing and installing a self-compacting, innovative Big Belly trash can to pilot in the community. Something as simple as providing more trash or recycling receptacles for the community is a proven way to decrease trash on streets.
Where
The EPIC Campaign is a trash reduction pilot program along a 1/2 mile section of Main Street/Hwy 116 through the unincorporated community of Guerneville.
Why
The effectiveness of the EPIC pilot program will inform and assist the County, businesses, and residences towards future implementation efforts required for compliance of the statewide trash amendment.
In Sonoma County’s urban areas, storm drains are connected directly to creeks and streams, which eventually flow to rivers like the iconic Russian River and eventually, the Pacific Ocean. Due to this direct connection, trash and litter entering a storm drain from private, residential and business properties or public streets can easily impact the health of our waterways. To protect our waterways, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted a statewide provision banning any trash 5mm (the width of a cigarette butt) or larger from entering storm drain by 2030.
Within the City of Santa Rosa, on average approximately 47 full garbage trucks (equivalent to 1,100 cubic feet) of trash is removed from our creeks each year! Compounded across approximately 482 cities statewide, the collective impact of trash on our environment is significant.
The sewer system and storm drain system are two completely separate networks. The storm drain system allows rainwater during storms to flow directly to the nearest creek or river untreated. Potential pollutants such as trash, oil, soap, sediment, or other contaminants can easily enter our waterways.
If the campaign is effective, it would be a lower cost solution for implementation across the County. And more importantly, it will show how valuable the Guerneville community is as a clean, trash free area for others to shop, dine, and play!
Campaign Duration
The pilot study will kick off May 1st and will end during the first week of August.
