Healing The Bay In Santa Monica, Calif.

This month we are collecting your stories about the good things Americans are doing to make their community a better place. Some of your contributions will become blog posts and the project will end with a story that weaves together submissions to make a story of Americans by Americans for Americans.

Clean is a relative term, says Eveline Bravo, programs manager for Heal the Bay, a nonprofit pro-environment organization hellbent on restoring Santa Monica Bay.

"There's so much Styrofoam and plastic and it's hard to feel like you're not just making small dents."

Yet every third Saturday, Bravo — along with hundreds of other volunteers — shows up at designated beaches with buckets in hand.

The monthly Nothin' But Sand event brings everyone together to pick-up trash, record findings for the Marine Debris Database and learn how to keep trash out of the ocean in the first place.

Sammie Suchland is an account coordinator for a Los Angeles advertising agency and listens to KCRW.

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