Join a clean up

Beach clean up

There are lots of organisations worldwide that run community and beach cleans throughout the year to pick up litter and trash that will find its way into our oceans – find one near you!

Cigarette butts, food wrappers, straws, single-use utensils and plastic drink bottles are the top 5 most commonly found items at beach clean ups.

Source

Benefits

  • You can instantly see the positive impact on the environment
  • Clean ups can be used as educational tools to identify the litter collecting in our local communities and coastlines
  • Sharing the debris you find can help inform global scientific datasets on the type and amount of plastic in different areas (see Marine Debris Tracker)

Challenges

  • It only tackles the symptom of plastic pollution
  • There may not be a clean up arranged in your area (see organise a clean up)

Making a difference

During the 2019 International Coastal Cleanup day, 23 million pounds of trash were collected from beaches worldwide in one day.

There are hundreds of other ways to solve plastic pollution

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