International Coastal Cleanup Day

This Saturday, September 15, is designated as International Coastal Cleanup Day. Over the past 25 years, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup has become the world’s largest volunteer effort for ocean health. Nearly nine million volunteers from 152 countries and locations have cleaned 145 million pounds of trash from the shores of lakes, streams, rivers, and the ocean on just one day each year.

Each September, hundreds of thousands of volunteers from countries all over the world spend a day picking up everything from cigarette butts and food wrappers to lost fishing nets and major appliances. Because trash travels to the ocean by way of storm drains and waterways, they don’t just work along ocean beaches; these dedicated folks slog through mud and sand along lakes, streams, and rivers, too, often working far inland.

Many walk, while others set out on boats. Thousands more don scuba gear to seek trash below the water’s surface. People of all ages, from any walk of life, can participate. Friends, families, neighbors, club members, grade school classes—all kinds of people turn out on one day to work together in spirit across many time zones.

For more information, visit http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/international-coastal-cleanup-6.html.

Can't make it to the coast? Busy this weekend? No problem! In North Carolina, International Coastal Cleanup coincides with the NC Big Sweep. This is an annual event held on the first Saturday in October in an effort to rid the state of litter by promoting environmental education. However, Big Sweep events are held all through the months of September and October across the state.

To learn more and to find an event in your county, visit http://www.ncbigsweep.org/.

So how will your Piedmont or Mountain efforts benefit the coast? Everyone lives in a river basin which eventually flows into an estuary or the ocean. Cleaning up the litter in your area benefits those downstream - all the way to the coast! To learn more about North Carolina's river basins, visit http://www.eenorthcarolina.org/riverbasins.html.