One Trash Bag at a Time: Spreading CleanPlanet Day in San Diego

If you had told me years ago that carrying a tiny trash bag everywhere I go would feel like an act of hope, I might have smiled politely and moved on.

Today, it’s part of my daily life — a small but powerful way I live my mission to help clean up our planet, one bag at a time.

Here in San Diego, surrounded by stunning beaches, parks, and vibrant neighborhoods, it’s impossible to ignore the beauty — or the responsibility — we have to protect it. That’s why I started spreading the message of Clean Planet Day in my local community: to show that small actions, when multiplied by a lot of people, can create real, lasting change.

In December 2023, I was honored to step onto a TEDx stage and speak about climate change — but not from a place of doom and fear. I invited people to become climate change superheroes, activating their own unique “superpowers” to create a better world for future generations.

Because the truth is: we all have a role to play, and every single action matters.

Some of my favorite moments are spent doing beach cleanups and neighborhood cleanups alongside my two young daughters, who are still in elementary school, sometimes in full costumes. Watching them spot a bottle cap buried in the sand and race to pick it up fills me with hope. They remind me that the ripple effects we create today will reach far beyond our own lifetime. Their tiny hands, filling tiny bags, are already shaping a cleaner, healthier future.

As a 10 year veteran of the Burning Man movement, the principle of “Leave No Trace” has been deeply etched into my way of life. It’s not just a festival motto — it’s a commitment to this earth, to each other, and to future generations. Whether I’m hiking a trail, visiting a park, or just walking through a parking lot, that little trash bag is always with me, ready to catch the scraps that would otherwise mar our beautiful world.

It’s simple. It’s doable. And it’s powerful.

Clean Planet Day isn’t about perfection. It’s about participation.

It’s about shifting from “someone should do something” to “I am someone.”

It’s about reminding ourselves that no action is too small when it comes to caring for the only home we have.

If you see me out and about — and you notice a small trash bag tucked into my backpack — feel free to say hello. Better yet, grab a bag, pick up a few pieces of trash, and join the movement.

One bag. One beach. One street.

One beautiful planet that deserves all of us.

Together, we can create a cleaner, greener, more vibrant world — for our children, and their children after them.

Let’s be the superheroes Earth is waiting for, with or without the capes.