On Saturday, Sept. 21, millions of people around the world joined the world’s largest volunteer effort on behalf of ocean and waterway health. Thousands of International Coastal Cleanup events were held at locations ranging from beaches to riverfronts, lakeside to underwater reefs. Whether you picked one bottle cap off the beach or hauled a refrigerator from a creek bed, thank you for participating.

And everyone who participated helped tackle one of the biggest threats to the health and resiliency of our ocean and waterways: trash. This trash, namely disposable plastics, is entirely human-generated. That means it’s entirely preventable, and we can all play a role in solving it.

How can you help? There are still Cleanups happening all over the world, so you can find one near you or plan a small cleanup of your own with friends and family.

You can also continue to take personal responsibility for your trash—both at the beach and in everyday life. Trash is not just something we throw away. It’s tangible evidence of wasted resources. Pledge to reduce your consumption of one-time-use products, helping stop ocean trash before it starts.

And download Ocean Conservancy’s free mobile application Rippl to help you make simple, sustainable lifestyle choices that will help you save money and reduce your trash impact.

Together, we can work toward trash free seas.