At last year’s annual Coastal Cleanup, about 1,700 dedicated volunteers from civic organizations, youth groups, businesses and families collected more than 20,000 pounds of trash from 38 sites along Delaware’s shorelines and tributaries.
In addition to the more common food wrappers, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cigarette butts, their more unusual finds included a bowling ball, shopping cart, car windshield, water cooler, TV, dresser, grill, a New Jersey police officer cap and assorted washed up political signs.
This year, DNREC is seeking volunteers for the 24th annual Delaware Coastal Cleanup to be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 19, with a rain date the following Saturday, Sept. 26.
Delaware’s 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. Hundreds of thousands of people all over the world help each year to rid the environment of marine debris and collect detailed information on the types and quantities of refuse.
The types and quantities of trash collected are recorded on data cards and forwarded to the Center for Marine Conservation, which compiles the information for all of the cleanups held in the country and around the world. This information helps identify the source of the debris and focus efforts on eliminating or reducing it.
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-based activities – increased across the United States by more than five percent each year. (This report can be seen at www.oceanconservancy.org .)
The Ocean Conservancy supplies trash bags, data cards and pencils. Delaware’s cleanup is also co-sponsored with Delmarva Power which provides collectable t-shirts for the participants and Playtex, which provides gloves. DNREC is responsible for organizing the event, recruiting volunteers, distributing supplies, ensuring trash removal and tabulating all the data collected. Many municipalities help with the trash pick-up.
The cleanup spans Delaware’s 97-mile eastern coastline and includes river and ocean shorelines as well as wetland and watershed areas. This year, 44 sites in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties are targeted.
Volunteers are encouraged to pre-register to ensure everyone has the supplies they need and receive a complementary International Coastal Cleanup t-shirt in appreciation of their effort. For more information about Delaware’s Coastal Cleanup, call Joanna Wilson at 302-739-9902.
