Help Start a Sea Change

Planning Your Own Local International Coastal Cleanup Event

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• Download a contact sheet so your attendees can stay updated about ocean trash and other easy things they can do to help protect the ocean (156kb pdf).

Each year on the third Saturday in September*, hundreds of thousands of volunteers comb lakes, rivers, and beaches around the world for litter. They are at the heart of the International Coastal Cleanup. Last year, nearly 400,000 people from 100 countries and 42 US states removed 6.8 million pounds of trash from our waterways. The data recorded every year by these dedicated people about the sources and types of trash harming our ocean and waterways raises awareness, inspires recycling efforts, and shapes policy decisions from the local to the international level.

As a coordinator, you will take a lead role on the front line of one of the world's most preventable problems. Together with Ocean Conservancy, you will work to find suitable partners in your state to help target appropriate sites for conducting cleanups. You are not alone in the job; you will recruit other like-minded volunteers to act as site captains, who take responsibility for specific cleanups. Your network of captains will help you coordinate and carryout cleanups throughout your state and recruit local sponsors.

Who Does What

Ocean Conservancy: Organizes/supports the state and country coordinators.
State/Country Coordinator: Organizes the Cleanup at the state or country level.
Zone Captain: Organizes the Cleanup within the scope of counties or cities.
Site Captain: Oversees the Cleanup at a single location/site.

Ocean Conservancy and the ICC coordinators work together to organize and implement the ICC. The coordinator will undertake the following steps to ensure that the Cleanup event runs smoothly:

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