Volunteers at Coastal Cleanup

Land-based marine debris is any trash found on a shoreline, including trash that was originally deposited in upland areas or offshore. Debris is collected during several volunteer-driven beach clean-up days throughout the year on Long Island Sound’s coast. This dataset reflects the number of volunteers participating in the cleanups in September and October reported to the Ocean Conservancy for International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day. In 2024, 3,167 volunteers in 92 cleanups collected 11,383 pounds of debris along 103 miles of coastline, the equivalent of 111 pounds per mile. In 2020, the number of volunteers and cleanups were fewer than in previous years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships or MARPOL treaty of 1988 made ocean dumping illegal. But debris and garbage continues to collect on the coast, including the Sound’s 600 miles of shoreline and beaches. While some of this debris is still dumped from vessels, most of the garbage comes from the streets in our communities. This trash gets washed into the Sound with stormwater runoff. The success of Long Island Sound Coastal Cleanups, held on weekends in September and early October  as part of International Coastal Cleanup Days, is evidence that community residents are willing to volunteer in large numbers to help address and clean up a persistent problem.

This indicator reflects continued volunteer interest in cleaning up the Long Island Sound shoreline. With more volunteers actively engaged in clean-ups and preventing marine debris from entering the Sound, we can continue to decrease the litter on our shorelines and waterways.