International Coastal Cleanup Media Kit Here. Last Year’s DC ICC Photos and B-roll Here

WASHINGTON – Ocean Conservancy is calling for volunteers in the Washington, D.C., area to join the global effort to tackle ocean plastic pollution by participating in the International Coastal Cleanup® (ICC) on Kingman Island on September 28, 2024, which is also World Rivers Day. At last year’s event, nearly 400 volunteers removed nearly 4,000 pounds of trash from Kingman and Heritage Islands in the Anacostia River. The Kingman Island cleanup helps preserve a unique local ecosystem that is home to more than 100 different species of wildlife.

“Over a garbage truck’s worth of plastics – much of it single-use – enters the ocean every minute, where they accumulate year after year,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of Conservation Cleanups, Allison Schutes. “While it’s critical that we turn off the tap of plastics flowing into the environment through prevention measures, we also need to clean up what’s already out there. Every piece of plastic collected and recorded as part of the International Coastal Cleanup informs important research and advocacy and makes a tangible difference for our ocean and the creatures that call it home.”

Since the first ICC in 1986, over 18 million volunteers have joined local cleanup efforts big and small to remove over 385 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways around the globe, making it the largest beach and waterway cleanup in the world. At last year’s ICC, over 486,000 volunteers collected nearly 8 million pounds of trash globally, including nearly 2 million cigarette butts, over 1.3 million beverage bottles, and over 850,000 bottle caps. Ocean Conservancy is expecting an even larger turnout in 2024.

Every year, more than 11 million metric tons of plastic waste are estimated to enter the ocean, impacting more than 1,300 species of marine life, including seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals. Plastics never fully breakdown in the environment and instead, break into smaller and smaller pieces called microplastics. Microplastics are being found everywhere scientists look, from the depths of the Mariana trench to mountain tops, and even our dinner plates, showing up in proteins, salt, and even drinking water.

In addition to the direct benefit of removing trash from the environment, the data collected by ICC volunteers using the Clean Swell app or data sheets contributes to Ocean Conservancy’s marine litter database. This database is the world’s largest repository of marine debris data and is used to inform scientists, conservation groups, governments, and industry leaders about ocean trash to fuel plastic pollution prevention and advocacy efforts. ICC data has been instrumental in spurring policy change from being used to promote California’s SB 54, the Florida balloon release ban, the Farewell to Foam Act, and advocate for source reduction in the upcoming plastics treaty.

Volunteers can register on Eventbrite. Volunteers will receive cleanup supplies and t-shirts. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Photos and b-roll from last year’s D.C. cleanup can be found here.

If you would like to set up an interview with one of Ocean Conservancy’s experts or RSVP to cover the DC ICC, please contact Roya Fox at [email protected] or 202.280.6285.

The International Coastal Cleanup media kit with photos, b-roll and data can be found HERE.

You can find a two pager with toplines from the 2023 ICC data HERE.

You can find the full 2023 ICC report HERE.

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ABOUT OCEAN CONSERVANCY  Ocean Conservancy is working to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with our partners, we create evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram.