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. Plastics are very hazardous to marine life, killing more than a million birds and
over 100,000 seals, turtles, and whales, and an immense number of fish in our ocean. Coastal
Cleanup encourages us to get out to our beaches and help to limit this problem by cleaning
up the garbage that has washed up on shore, and that left by visitors every day.

The purpose of the cleanup is to engage people around the world to remove trash and debris from
beaches and waterways, to identify the sources of the litter, and to change the behaviours that
cause pollution. It beautifies the beaches and coastlines by removing unsightly debris. We are also
able to help protect birds and marine life by reducing the likelihood that these innocent creatures will
become injured or entangled in plastics or ingest deadly debris.

International Coastal Cleanup. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2019, from Keep Martin Beautiful:
http://www.keepmartinbeautiful.org/international-coastal-cleanup.html

The Cleanup provides our team with data—and lots of it! Every year, hundreds of
thousands of volunteers fill out data cards to record what they find while picking up
their beaches and waterways. This information helps Ocean Conservancy and myriad
other ocean and environmental organizations around the world identify the most
harmful items of debris, and find ways to stop them from entering the ocean
Mallos, N. (2014, September 12). Three Reasons for the International Coastal Cleanup. Retrieved April 2,
2019, from Ocean Conservancy: https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2014/09/12/three-reasons-for-the-
international-coastal-cleanup/