Some of the trash had been sitting there since Hurricane Andrew. On Saturday, Sept. 19, it finally left.
The Town of Cutler Bay says 200 people showed up at Coastal Ridge Preserve for International Coastal Cleanup 2026. That is the biggest cleanup crowd the town has ever had. Together they hauled out about 3,000 pounds of trash and debris, a ton and a half, and planted more than 100 native plants to help the preserve grow back.
Coastal Ridge Preserve is 8.5 acres of land the town bought in 2020 to keep it from being developed. Cleanups there started in 2024 and have grown each year. The town announced this year’s results on Sept. 30.
A lot of the muscle came from students. Kids from the COAST academies at Cutler Bay High School and Cutler Bay Middle School turned out, along with students from Mater Bay Academy and South Ridge High School and their teachers. Cutler Bay High Principal Lucas De La Torre and Cutler Bay Middle Principal Jose L. Peña III worked alongside them. Members of the Air Force Junior ROTC and the group Livablecutler pitched in too.
The town thanked State Rep. Omar Blanco and Councilmembers Robert “BJ” Duncan, Suzy Lord and Richard Ramirez for joining the effort.
Cutler Bay’s morning was one small piece of a big day. VolunteerCleanup.org counted a record 74 cleanups across Miami-Dade County this year. More than 3,900 volunteers picked up over 26,000 pounds of trash in all. The countywide push was coordinated by VolunteerCleanup.org and co-hosted by Clean Miami Beach.
If you missed it, the town posted a photo album from the day on its website, and the Deering Estate in Palmetto Bay runs a similar volunteer morning on the second Saturday of every month.
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