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News : International Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM


The International Coastal Cleanup: The World's Largest Volunteer Effort for the Ocean - September 19th
By Ocean Conservancy
Sep 17, 2009 - 11:17:59 PM

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In partnership with organizations and individuals across the globe, Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup engages people to remove trash and debris from the world's beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris, and change the behaviors that cause marine debris in the first place.

When We Trash Our Ocean, We Trash Our Life Support System

The ocean covers more than two-thirds of our planet. It is home to 97 percent of life on Earth. It drives and moderates our climate. It creates the weather. It is the ultimate source of the water we drink and much of the air we breathe. It directly feeds millions of people. It also absorbs much of the air and water pollution generated by a world population approaching seven billion. But our ocean is sick, and our actions have made it so. We must recognize that the ocean is inextricably connected to us. When we allow trash and other pollution to get into the ocean, we directly affect its health and our own.

Global Involvement, Local Change

Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup is a year-round program designed to keep our ocean and waterways free from trash and safer for people and wildlife. Our flagship event held on the third Saturday of every September is the largest single-day volunteer effort of its kind. The number of participating countries jumped by more than 30 percent in 2008 over 2007 - to 104 countries and locations - a powerful demonstration that concern about the marine debris problem is surging around the globe.

Each year, the millions of Cleanup volunteers - from scout troops to divers to families and friends - not only clean up trash, they log data about what they found. This information, amassed over the 23-year history of the Cleanup, has been integral to both raising awareness about this global pollution problem and implementing policies and programs to address it.

It began with one woman walking along the beach of South Padre Island, Texas. She was appalled at the amount of trash she saw and she immediately felt compelled to do something about it. She organized a beach cleanup and in a mere two hours, 2,800 Texans picked up tons of trash.

Join In! Marine Debris is a Problem We Can Fix

Maine Cleanup Volunteers
Trash doesn't fall from the sky, it falls from our hands. Since the beginning of human history, we have believed the ocean to be infinite, but it is not. We simply cannot continue to put our trash in the ocean. The evidence turns up every day in dead and injured marine life, littered beaches, and choked marine ecosystems.

All of us, whether we are among the two-thirds of the world population inhabiting the coast, or those living hundreds of miles inland, are intimately connected to the ocean. Cleanup volunteers all over the world - dedicated, hard-working people committed to ocean and water conservation - already know this. You and your friends, neighbors, family, and colleagues can join in this remarkable experience of international camaraderie on behalf of the ocean environment.
Start a Sea Change! Sign up for the International Coastal Cleanup today »



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