How to Keep Our Beaches Clean This Fourth of July

When it comes to celebrating the country’s birthday, Americans go big. People head outdoors in droves to their local beaches, lakes, and parks to say “Cheers” to the United States. Unfortunately, these celebrations have become more than simply a fun time outside — we are now seeing our treasured natural spaces become dumping grounds for people’s post-celebratory trash.

In fact, so much trash is consistently left behind from the holiday on our beaches that Surfrider has designated July 5 the “Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year.” From single-use plastic foodware and packaging to fireworks debris and balloons, our beaches are left littered with remnants of the day before. The Surfrider Foundation knows things can be better, which is why we work to clean up the trash on the fifth of July and fight year-round to prevent single-use plastics from polluting our beaches in the first place.

How Can We Have a Cleaner Fourth of July Celebration?

• Choose to Reuse: When preparing for your Fourth of July celebrations, use sustainable, durable reusable foodware instead of single-use plastic. Bring your own reusable cups, plates, and cutlery, and enjoy your day without worrying about adding to the plastic pollution on the beach. Opt for more hand-held foods and you might not need any cutlery at all! Feeling festive? Choose decorations that can be used year after year!

• Think Natural or Recyclable: If you aren’t able to incorporate reusables, opt for recyclable or natural materials, such as aluminum, hay, bamboo, etc. Check out our Ocean Friendly Foodware Guide for alternative product ideas. Remember to skip the bioplastics as research has shown that bioplastics can be just as harmful to our environment as their petroleum-based counterparts.

• Leave No Trace: Everything you bring to the beach with you, remember to take back home. Packing out what you packed in helps reduce the strain on beachside trash receptacles and limits the amount of trash that may be accidentally littered when the bins get too full.

• Join a Cleanup: Volunteer with your local Surfrider Chapter and participate in a cleanup on the fifth of July. You’ll get to see firsthand how much trash is on our beaches, and you can become part of the solution as well. Don’t have a Surfrider Chapter near you? Do a solo beach cleanup and log your results in our database.

• Take Action: Get involved in Surfrider’s advocacy work and sign an action alert. Make your voice heard and tell your representatives that we don’t want more plastic pollution and that we are ready for a more sustainable future.

Our beaches need help all year round, and Surfrider activists are working nonstop to keep our beaches clean and free from plastic pollution. Just last year, over 340,000 pounds of trash was removed from beaches across the United States, of which 85% was plastic. The pollution data collected during cleanups is not only educational, but is used to help pass plastic pollution reduction legislation at the local, state, and federal levels in an effort to stop plastic pollution at the source.

When the fifth of July is over, the Surfrider Foundation’s work to protect our ocean, waves and beaches doesn’t stop. Join us in our fight against plastic pollution and become a friend of the ocean today.