Mar 29 - Global Cleanup Results, Bags & Food Containers Among Top 5 Items
The results are in for last year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) day, and volunteers picked up over 9 million pounds of trash from our shores.
Nearly 600,000 volunteers across the world removed trash from over 20,000 miles of coastline and waterways last September. The Ocean Conservancy organized the event, which celebrates its 27th year this year. Previous ICC cleanups combined have resulted in the removal of 153 million pounds of marine debris.
Plastic bags and takeout food containers continue to be among the top 5 items collected. In a statement, Ocean Conservancy President and CEO Vikki Spruill noted,
"Our volunteers picked up enough food packaging for a person to get takeout for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for the next 858 years. Our top 10 list consistently shows that what you use, eat and drink in our everyday life ends up in the ocean. We need to stop trash at its source."
See the results on the Ocean Conservancy website.
Read an article from the Associated Press.
Find out more about plastic pollution, and take action on local and statewide measures to stop plastic bags and/or foamed takeout containers at the source.