Working Towards a Cleaner San Diego: Celebrating Local Environmental Champions
Left: Porsche Carlsbad display at the Marea Sessions event benefiting the Rob Machado Foundation. Top Right: Hoehn Motors Adopt-a-Highway sign. Bottom Right: The Discovery Center at the Agua Hediona Lagoon Foundation. Image Credit: Agua Hediona Lagoon Foundation
Working Towards a Cleaner San Diego: Celebrating Local Environmental Champions
San Diego is one of the most biologically diverse regions in the United States, home to an extraordinary range of ecosystems. Its unique geography, where coastal, desert, and mountain habitats meet, creates ideal conditions for biodiversity to flourish. At Hoehn Motors, we feel incredibly fortunate to call this beautiful region home. That’s why we’re proud to support the dedicated organizations and programs working tirelessly to protect and restore our local environment, ensuring San Diego’s natural beauty and ecological health endure for generations.
Featured Organizations
Rob Machado Foundation
Founded by local surfing legend Rob Machado, the Rob Machado Foundation is committed to educating and inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. By leading hands-on initiatives such as installing refillable water stations in schools and public spaces, organizing beach cleanups, and supporting recycling and gardening programs on school campuses, the foundation empowers youth to understand their environmental impact and take meaningful action in their communities.
Adopt-A-Highway Program
The Adopt-A-Highway Program is a statewide initiative that invites individuals, businesses, and organizations to take an active role in maintaining the beauty and cleanliness of California’s highways through litter removal and other beautification efforts. We’re proud to be part of this program, and you may have spotted our signs along the 5 Freeway in North County!
Agua Hediona Lagoon Foundation 
The Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Carlsbad, dedicated to preserving the ecological health and natural beauty of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, a vital coastal wetland located just minutes from Car Country. At the heart of its mission is the Discovery Center, a vibrant hub that offers hands-on learning experiences, interactive ecological exhibits, and engaging outdoor programs designed for visitors of all ages.
Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation and Audubon Society Nature Center
The Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation, established in 1969 as California’s first ecological reserve, is dedicated to preserving and restoring this rare freshwater wetland that spans Carlsbad and Oceanside. In partnership with the Buena Vista Audubon Society, the foundation works to protect the lagoon’s rich biodiversity through advocacy, environmental education, and community engagement. Visitors are invited to explore the Nature Center and surrounding trails, which offer an up-close look at the area’s unique ecosystem.
Nature Collective (Formerly the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy)
Founded in 1987, Nature Collective is a nonprofit land trust dedicated to protecting, restoring, and caring for the 979-acre San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve and its watershed for current and future generations. Visitors are welcome to explore the reserve’s scenic trails, stop by the nature center, and participate in guided walks that highlight the lagoon’s rich biodiversity. The collective also partners with local schools to promote ecological literacy and inspire environmental stewardship among students.
Plant With Purpose
Plant With Purpose is a San Diego-based nonprofit that addresses the interconnected challenges of rural poverty and environmental degradation around the world by empowering communities through sustainable farming techniques, reforestation, and savings-led microfinance. By restoring degraded land, increasing household income, building financial resilience, and nurturing local leadership, Plant With Purpose helps break the cycles of poverty and deforestation, planting tens of millions of trees and fostering hope, stewardship, and self-reliance in vulnerable communities.
Wildcoast Costasalvaje
WILDCOAST, known as Costasalvaje in Mexico, is an international team of conservationists with offices in Del Mar and Ensenada, working to protect coastal and marine ecosystems while addressing the impacts of climate change. Their efforts include establishing and managing protected areas, safeguarding endangered species, and restoring wetlands and blue-carbon habitats. WILDCOAST collaborates with communities, governments, and the private sector to lead science-based advocacy, ecological monitoring, media campaigns, and educational outreach that strengthen local stewardship and promote sustainable coastal development. Over the past 25 years, the organization has helped conserve more than 31 million acres of coastal and marine habitat across California and Mexico.
Hoehn Motors is proud to partner with these remarkable environmental organizations that are making a meaningful impact both in our local communities and around the world. From safeguarding San Diego’s wetlands and lagoons to supporting global reforestation and sustainability efforts, each organization reflects our shared commitment to protecting the environment for future generations.
