The International Coastal Cleanup is September 1st through October 31st and is the largest volunteer effort aimed at improving the health of the ocean, bringing out hundreds of thousands of volunteers from around the world to remove millions of pounds of plastics and debris from beaches, lakes and waterways. 

This event has grown to include participation by all 50 states and U.S. territories and 90 countries with the number growing each year. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful coordinates this effort in Pennsylvania.

In 2013, Pennsylvania ranked 6th in the nation for the number of volunteers participating! More than 9,700 volunteers from 35 counties canvassed their communities to remove nearly 460,000 pounds of trash and debris from Pennsylvania’s waterways and coastal regions.

The “top five” types of trash found during the 2013 cleanup included: 17,344 Cigarette Butts; 4,062 Food Wrappers;  3,259 Beverage Bottles (plastic); 3,011 Plastic Pieces; and 2,018 Bottle Caps (Plastic).

International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day will be held on September 20, however, ICC events can be held from September 1 through October 31.

Any cleanup site is eligible since we all live in a watershed and all waterways flow into our coastal waters.

If you are interested in coordinating an ICC cleanup, please contact Michelle Dunn at 1-877-772-3673 Ext. 113 or send email to: mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.  

8/18/2014