5 San Francisco Volunteer Opportunities for Nature Lovers
If you prefer to be outside, getting your hands dirty, and learning new things, a desk job can feel soul-sucking. And, though we’d all love to land a dream job as we scour for it on Basecamp, many of us have to stick with our 9-to-5s, at least for the time being.
That’s why I love finding volunteer opportunities that allow me to ingratiate myself in activities and communities focused on creating a greener environment here in the city. This volunteer work helps to reinvigorate and reawaken my creativity and connection to the earth—and I hope one or all of them will for you all too.
My five favorite nature volunteering opportunities in San Francisco
This farm is located on a plot of land just outside of Glen Park. While volunteering, you learn about native plants, composting, and produce, all while creating a garden that serves any community members who need it. You also get to take produce home with you. I wrote a detailed blog post about volunteering on this farm that you can find here + the planting workshop I recently participated in here >
The local Surfrider Chapter here in San Francisco has a lot of volunteer opportunities that help you create a better beach environment for our communities. From weekly beach clean-ups to ocean-friendly gardening workshops to water testing to restoring Sloat, there are so many ways to get involved if you love the ocean.
3. Friends of the Urban Forest
If you take a closer look at most of the trees planted throughout the city, you’ll see a little sign that says Friends of the Urban Forest. That’s because this is the organization that actually does the planting and takes care of these trees. A former coworker told me about FUF a while back and I immediately signed up for a pruning workshop with them. At the same time, they were hosting a tree planting session in a neighborhood in south San Francisco. They have a variety of different options for volunteering as well.
One of my favorite things about San Francisco is that there are hidden forests throughout this city. I don’t have a car and if I want to go for a hike after work (instead of watching TV), I’ll head to one of our parks for a bit of forest bathing. That’s why I loved volunteering with Sutro Stewards to help do trail maintenance on Mount Sutro. It felt so good to help keep these trails in tip-top shape when I knew I’d be walking along them in the near future. You can read about the full trail maintenance volunteering experience here >
5. Refuse Refuse Neighborhood Clean-Ups
On any given Sunday that doesn’t involve me being out of town or in town with a hangover, I’ll volunteer with the Refuse Refuse to do a neighborhood cleanup. They partner with our local cafe and after an hour of picking up litter, the cafe provides all volunteers with food and drink. Not only does it feel good to help create a cleaner, more welcoming environment in your neighborhood, but it’s also a fun way to meet people who live nearby. I’ve remained friends with a neighbor who had signed up on the same day and we now hang out regularly. This is less about getting into nature, but does give you an opportunity to be outside and is a nice way to build community.