Calling All Volunteers for International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 17, 2016!

International Coastal Cleanup Day will bring together thousands of Surfrider coastal defenders and volunteer organizations around the globe to participate in local beach cleanups. In 2015, more than a half a million volunteers came together on this one-day event to pick up more than 16 million pounds of trash over 12,000 miles of coastlines. It is the single largest volunteer event held around the world!

Marine litter is a global crisis for our ocean, its inhabitants and for those who enjoy it. Participation in a beach cleanup is one action that addresses major threats towards our oceans. The power for change lies in the hands of all of us. Those who acknowledge the problem and act on it become part of the solution!

Consider these facts:

• Analysis of more than 10 years of volunteer beach cleanup data indicates that 60 to 80 percent of beach debris comes from land-based sources.
• Land debris in the marine environment means hazards for animals and humans. Plastic marine debris affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86 percent of all sea turtle species, 44 percent of all sea bird species, and 43 percent of marine mammal species.
• By 2050, research says that there will be more plastic in our ocean than fish.

You can sign up to volunteer on International Coastal Cleanup Day by finding your local Surfrider Chapter's Facebook or webpage.  

In Santa Monica, California, the Surfrider Foundation and our West Los Angeles/ Malibu Chapter and our partner, Parley for the Oceans, will bring the community together for a beach cleanup where plastic marine debris collected by volunteers will be sorted and deposited into a storage container. Once the storage container is full, Parley will manage the materials to ensure they are recycled responsibly and upcycled to create new, fashionable products.

For 30 years, International Coastal Cleanup Day has engaged people to remove trash from the world’s beaches and waterways, identify the sources of debris and change the behaviors. On this day this year, the Surfrider Foundation and Parley will launch a partnership that will intercept litter from the beach and take this action one step further to reduce the impact on landfills by ensuring recyclable plastics are made into new materials that will be fashioned into usable products. 

About Parley

Parley Foundation is a non-profit organization created to provide a space where creators, thinkers and leaders come together to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of our oceans and collaborate on projects that can end their destruction Paley's Ocean Plastic Program is realized in three key pillars of action, called the Parley A.I.R. Strategy: Avoid. Intercept, Redesign.

Avoid the unnecessary.

Plastic is a design failure to be avoided as much as possible. When it’s unavoidable, cut into the unnecessary fossil fuel-based production of virgin plastic by recycling materials in a closed loop.

Intercept current plastic pollution.

Every piece of plastic ever produced is still out there in some form. Through its Global Cleanup Network, Parley intercepts plastic from remote shorelines, waterways, and the high seas, diverts waste from landfills, and upcycles recovered materials to disrupt the cycle of pollution.

Redesign and rethink the ways we live on this blue planet.

The only way we’ll solve this for good is through eco innovation. Parley is working to disrupt plastic-centric product categories, reinvent plastic, and set new standards within the creative industries for developing, distributing and promoting products.