International Coastal Cleanup Day is an international day of action to protect our oceans, watersheds and wildlife from trash and debris. This massive volunteering effort has an astounding impact on many of our local natural habitats and communities.

It is a global movement that encompasses 6 million volunteers in 90 countries and across the UK. The cumulative result is not only a cleaner and healthier coastline but also a raised consciousness for accessible actions people can integrate into their lives to promote healthy beaches on a daily basis.

Data from the annual Coastal Cleanup Day event points at single-use plastic pollution as a major local and global issue. Cigarette butts, plastic food wrappers, and plastic beverage bottles/caps remain the top items found by Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers. Other common items include plastic bags, plastic straws and stirrers, plastic take-out containers, plastic lids, and foam take-out containers.

Beach cleanups and its importance 

Every year thousands of tons of garbage winds up in the oceans, with 60% of that being composed of plastic material. Plastics especially last a very long time in the ocean and are in such abundance that there are 46,000 individual pieces of plastic litter for every square mile of ocean. Our beaches are the bridge between our world and the ocean. Summer weather attracts thousands of visitors to beaches across the world and sometimes visitors bring waste. Beaches are fragile environments. We must be attentive in how we treat these stretches of land.

Nearly 80 percent of pollution in our marine environment comes from the land. It is necessary to keep our beaches clean if we hope to keep our oceans clean. The sand and surf is far more than a place to build sand castles and take a dive. Beaches are home to various creatures from sea lions to sea turtles. Many animals depend on land to survive. Land that is untainted by chemical wastes or human wastes. Marine life, dwelling only in the water, are also affected by waste on beaches. When the tides rise, they collect items on the beach and take the items out when the water lowers, including trash. This can have negative effects on marine life. According to research, trash and plastic pollution affect 100 million marine mammals each year. Animals do not know that a shiny candy wrapper is not meant to be eaten. It can easily be mistaken as a fish or piece of kelp. Trash can cause injury even if it is not ingested, Creatures have been reported having straws stuck in their noses, or head stuck in plastic bottle rings.

By keeping the environment trash free we help protect and preserve marine life.