View a list of Coastal Cleanup Sites

This year the 23rd annual Delaware Coastal Cleanup will be held 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 20. Rain date is Sept. 27. The Delaware Cleanup is part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup and a part of the world’s largest annual clearing of trash from coastlines and lakes by volunteers.

A recent marine debris five-year report released by the Ocean Conservancy found that general-source marine debris – trash that comes from both ocean- and land-base activities – increased across the United States by more than five percent each year. (This report can be seen at www.oceanconservancy.org.)

One purpose of recording the types and quantities of trash collected through the cleanup is to identify the source of debris and focus efforts on eliminating or reducing it. Volunteers record such information on data cards which are forwarded to the Center for Marine Conservation, which compiles the information for all national and international cleanups.

The success of the beach cleanups rely on a dedicated and diverse group of volunteers, from civic organizations and businesses to individuals and families. Last year, nearly 2,000 volunteers participated in the cleanup and collected more than 12,000 pounds of trash from Delaware’s shoreline and tributaries. Some of the most interesting finds from last year’s cleanup included a bike, grill top, mailbox, and a Costa Rican license plate.

The cleanup spans the state’s 97-mile eastern coastline and includes river and ocean shorelines as well as wetland and watershed areas.  This year 45 sites in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties are targeted.

Delaware's participation in Coastal Cleanup is part of an International Coastal Cleanup run by the Ocean Conservancy, which supplies trash bags, data cards, and more. The Ocean Conservancy is a non-profit organization that has been working since 1972 to ensure that the world's oceans provide a healthy environment for an abundant and diverse population of marine animals.

The International Coastal Cleanup is the Conservancy's flagship program and is the oldest and largest one-day volunteer effort on behalf of the marine environment of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world help each year to rid the environment of marine debris. For more information on The Ocean Conservancy or the International Coastal Cleanup visit the Ocean Conservancy's web site.

For more information about Delaware's Coastal Cleanup, please call Jennifer Hall, at 302-739-9906.