Our Work
Document illegal dumping. Prepare responsible cleanup. SoCal Desert Cleanup’s current work focuses on community documentation and field readiness in the Coachella Valley and Riverside County desert communities.
Organized field cleanups remain planned. No public cleanup is scheduled at this time.
Get InvolvedActive now: community documentation
The public reporting tool lets people identify a location, describe the waste and optionally add photographs and contact information. Reports help build a record of dumping locations and patterns for awareness and responsible planning.
A report is not an emergency request, municipal service request or promise of removal. Do not trespass, approach active dumpers, touch hazardous materials or enter an unsafe area. Call 911 for an emergency or crime in progress.
Report Illegal DumpingActive now: cleanup readiness
We are building the practical requirements for organized cleanup work:
- Site permission, landowner or public-agency coordination and hazard review.
- Insurance and volunteer safety procedures.
- Tools, protective equipment, transportation and hauling capacity.
- Lawful disposal arrangements and a confirmed cleanup plan.
These are readiness requirements, not a claim that every resource is already in place. Get Involved explains contact-based volunteer and equipment interest; Donate explains financial support for launch needs.
Planned: organized field cleanups
After site permission and a safe cleanup plan are in place, we plan to organize volunteers to remove eligible nonhazardous waste, sort materials when practical, transport waste through approved channels and document the work completed.
Confirmed public event information will be published in Updates when ready. Expressing interest through Get Involved is not registering for a cleanup.
View UpdatesWhy desert protection matters
Illegal dumping can increase fire risk, threaten groundwater, endanger people and wildlife, and damage habitat. Restoration is intended to protect desert places and the communities around them.
Desert stewardship includes protecting desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, roadrunners, birds of prey, native plants and open spaces. These goals guide cleanup planning; they are not a measure of restored habitat.
Progress and evidence
The August 12, 2026 update announces that community reporting is open. It also explains that field cleanup remains in its launch phase, with no public cleanup scheduled.
That milestone documents a reporting pathway, not completed field cleanup. Our published updates currently describe reporting and readiness rather than completed-cleanup totals, waste tonnage or volunteer-hour counts.
Read the reporting updateWhat we do not provide
SCDC is not an emergency-response service, law-enforcement agency, hazardous-material remediation contractor or on-demand hauling service. Reporting is for documentation and planning; it does not guarantee inspection or cleanup.
For organization information, see About SoCal Desert Cleanup.
Help prepare responsible cleanup.
Express volunteer interest, discuss equipment support or learn how a donation helps build readiness.