Student Club Cleanup Competition: 2026 Results

Each year, Surfrider Student Clubs from across the country engage in some friendly competition to help keep our ocean, waves, and beaches clean! The annual Club Cleanup Competition incentivizes our young leaders to utilize our national cleanup database by tracking and logging their cleanup data, while competing for prizes across six categories. 

The results of the 2026 Club Cleanup Competition are in, and we're excited to announce the following... 

Impact Overview: 

• 11,083 lbs. of trash collected & logged into our national database
• 11 States & 1 Territory 
• 125 Cleanups
• 28 Student Clubs 

Category Winners:

• 1st Place, Most Trash Collected (aggregate): University of Hawaii Manoa, 3,757 lbs. 

• 2nd Place, Most Trash Collected (aggregate): University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1,125 lbs. 

• Best Group Photo: St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Florida)
  

• Weirdest Item Found: Bear Grylls Adventure Book, Hilton Head Prep (South Carolina)

• Raffle Winner (No Purchase Necessary. Opportunity Draw): Westview High School, California

• Honorable Mention: Highest total number of database entries, Capistrano Valley High School (California)

Huge thanks to all student clubs who participated! Check out additional group photos below. Photo entry results were voted upon by 6 Surfrider staff "judges."

CROEM, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico

University of New Hampshire:

Nova Southeastern University (Florida): 

Hilton Head Prep (South Carolina):

Follow @surfriderclubnetwork on Instagram to stay up to date on other student club projects and events.