Ocean trash is a serious pollution problem that affects the health of people, wildlife and local economies. Trash in the water and on the shore can kill marine animals, injure swimmers and beachgoers, and ensnare boat propellers.

We need your help to solve this problem.
We need your help to solve this problem. For over three decades, volunteers with Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup have picked up everything imaginable along the world’s shorelines: cigarette butts, food wrappers, abandoned fishing gear and even automobiles and kitchen appliances.

Every year during Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, hundreds of thousands of volunteers comb lakes, rivers and beaches around the world for trash. For over three decades, more than 12 million volunteers have collected over 220 million pounds of trash.

Join the wave.
Next time you’re headed out to the beach or a nearby park, download Ocean Conservancy’s app, Clean Swell and take along a trash bag to collect and document the debris you find.

Feeling more ambitious? Recruit friends and family to join you in a larger cleanup. Explain to them that no matter where you live—whether on the coast or hundreds of miles inland—all waterways lead to the ocean.