Love Dolores is not an organization with a front desk and a lobby. It is a habit — the habit of picking up after yourself, of sorting a can into the right bin, of handing a stranger a recycling bag because it is easier than watching them leave it on the grass. Everything on this page is a way to make that habit bigger.

We are neighbours, park regulars, dog walkers, birthday-party organisers, Mission District shopkeepers and people who simply like sitting on that slope on a sunny Tuesday. Some of us put in a few hours a month. Some of us show up every single weekend. There is no minimum, there is no uniform, and there is no membership fee. If you love the park, you are already on the team — this page just tells you where to plug in.

Our Community Days are the easiest way in. A few hours, a crew of people who are pleasant to be around, gloves and bags provided, and a very visible result by the end of the shift. Come once to see how it works, then come back with a friend. Groups, offices, sports teams and school clubs are all welcome — just tell us roughly how many of you are coming so we bring enough supplies.

Every Saturday, Sunday and holiday, from noon until 8 p.m., volunteers and staff station themselves at the edge of the park at the corner of 19^th and Dolores streets. Bring your bag of picnic leftovers there and we will help you sort it into the correct bins: cans and bottles here, compost there, landfill last. It sounds small. It is not — it is the single most effective thing we do, because it catches the waste before it ever reaches the grass.

Download and print a Love Dolores sign, decorate it however you like, photograph yourself with it in the park, and share the picture with #lovedolores and #dolorespark. Post it on your own feed or upload it straight to the Love Dolores Gallery. It takes two minutes, it costs nothing, and it quietly reminds everyone scrolling past that the person next to them is also taking their trash home.

Being useful here does not require any special skill. On a typical weekend you will wander the lawns with a grabber and a bag, hand out extra recycling bags to groups who clearly brought a lot of food, gently point people towards the bins instead of the bushes, and answer the same three questions all afternoon: where do I put this?, is the pop-up open? and can I help?.

Three things make someone good at this. You like talking to strangers. You can stay cheerful while repeating yourself. And you genuinely believe that most people are not trying to make a mess — they simply have not been told where things go. Almost everyone we approach says thank you. A few people even come back the next week and ask for a bag of their own.

If you would rather not talk to anyone at all, that is fine too. Plenty of volunteers prefer the quiet work: walking the perimeter, clearing the corners where picnics drift towards the paths, restocking the pop-up. Tell us which kind of person you are and we will put you where you are comfortable.

If you run a shop, a café, a studio or a office anywhere near the park, you already know how much of your weekend traffic walks through that grass. Partnering with Love Dolores is a straightforward way to give something back: put up a poster, mention the Eco-Popup to customers, keep a stack of recycling bags behind the counter, or bring your whole staff out for one Community Day a year.

Sports leagues, running crews, book clubs, church groups, dorm floors and birthday parties are equally welcome. Turn up together, work a shift together, and then enjoy the park together with a clear conscience. All we ask is a little warning so we can prepare materials, and a willingness to be a decent example in front of everyone else on the lawn.

Ambassadors are the volunteers who know the park best. They help new people learn the bins, they keep an eye on the pop-up when it gets busy, they explain what the campaign is about without sounding like a lecture, and they are the first people a lost visitor asks for directions. It is a slightly bigger commitment than a one-off shift, and it is also the most rewarding version of it, because after a few weekends you stop being a volunteer and start being part of the furniture.

We are especially glad to hear from people who live right around the park, who are out there several days a week anyway, and from anyone who speaks Spanish, Tagalog, Cantonese or Mandarin — the more languages our volunteers cover, the fewer people we fail to reach.

You do not need to sign anything, complete a training programme or wait for an invitation. Pick whichever of these is least intimidating:

Come say hello at the Eco-Popup. Corner of 19^th and Dolores, Saturday, Sunday or a holiday, noon to 8 p.m. Introduce yourself, watch for ten minutes, and stay if you feel like it. Nobody will hand you a clipboard.

Bring your own trash over. That counts. Learning the bins properly is the whole point, and once you know, you will never guess again.

Tell us you want to volunteer. Use the Contact page, mention how many people are coming and which dates suit you, and we will point you at the next Community Day. If you have a skill we have not thought of — photography, translation, graphic design, event organising, hauling things — say so. There is always something.

The park does not clean itself, and it never will. It gets cleaned by people who decided, on some ordinary afternoon, that they were going to be one of the ones who cares. We would be glad to have you among them.