How to Organize a Beach Cleanup: Ocean or Lake Beaches

How to Organize a Beach Cleanup

If you'd like to make a difference to wildlife and then environment, as well as to human health and the beauty of a local environment, you may want to organize a beach clean up! A beach cleanup is an organized event where volunteers come together to clean up and remove litter, like plastic bottles, bags, debris, and other pollutants from beaches and coastal areas.

Here's how!

Choose a beach

Obviously, you want to choose a beach nearby, so you can keep an eye on it to maintain it, and it will likely matter more to you, your family, friends and community. Make sure the location is safe and legal for volunteers to access and get permission if needed.

Determine what is needed and lineup supplies, recepticals, etc.

Where will the trash go? You'll need recepticles, and likely help from the local government to have the waste hauled away. That doesn't happen overnight. You need to arrange weeks in advance how you'll remove trash from the site. You can use NEEF's NPLD Site Manager guide for best practices for organizing volunteer events.Know how and be prepared to handle safely any hazardous, medical and sewage waste you might find. One solution: A wide-mouth container with a tight-fitting lid is perfect,such as an empty laundry detergent bottle. Clearly label the contain that it contains hazardous waste.

How to find volunteers and donations

Ask friends, family, and coworkers to help, and post about it on social media, like Facebook, X / Twitter, Instagram, Meetup.com. For example, you can create a Facebook event and have people sign up online.

You can use Gofundme.com and GiveSendGo.com to collect donations to purchase supplies, such as heavy trash bags, and rfentals of any equipment need. For example, if the beach is heavily polluted, you may need to rent a dumpster and disdposal f it, possibly a motorized beach cart to help with full trash recepticals.

Some of the trash may be recyclable. Reach out to recyclers in your area (and perhaps your community's solid waste departments) to make arrangements for accepting any glass, plastic, and aluminum that is collected.

When to schedule the clean-up

Weather conditions and the choice of day and time will greatly affect turnout. A Saturday morning is most likely the best day and time. Consider starting early in the morning before it gets hot. Check rthe weather forecasts. You don't want to be on a beach in foul weather, high winds or lightning!

When you do set a time and date, use a sign-up to organize your group and let everyone know where and when to meet. Let local media know about the event, and use social media and letters to local publications to publicize your efforts.

Preparations

A week in advance, you need to gather all the equipment you'll need, and ensure that trash removal is still certain. Start getting the supplies: trash bags, a first aid kit, hand sanitizer, wipes, and large coolers of water.

During the event:

Be sure to take photos before cleanup as well as during and after, to doucment everything to encourage future efforts.

Brief participants on protective gear

You'll need to be sure to tell participants - on nthe sign-up and when they show up - to wear thick gloves and sunscreen, and dress for the weather. In cool weather, bring a jacket, and on sunny days, wear sunscreen. You can also wear sensible shoes for walking on pebbles. Organize volunteers,according to their abilities and how well they are prepared. Determine who should handle the heavier obvjects, make sure child stay with their parents and are constantly watched, never alone, and not in the company of their parent or gaurdian.

During the clean up

Best to start at one end of the beach and form a line of volunteers across the beach, from the waterline to the dunes, and then proceed at a pace that allows the line to move evenly and together.

Other volunteers can manage bring up and rfemoving the larger trash collect receipticals as they are filled.

Share your success

Publish the before and after photos on social media and let folks know when you expect to arrange the next cleanup!

References:

Beach cleanup organixations that can help:

Volunteer.surfrider.org
Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup™, Annually, hundreds of thousands of volunteers comb lakes, rivers and beaches around the world for trash. For over three decades, more than 12 million volunteers have collected more than 220 million pounds of trash. Recruit friends and family to join you in a larger cleanup. Explain to them that no matter where you live—whether on the coast or hundreds of miles inland since all waterways lead to the ocean.
Surfrider Foundation’s volunteer network conducts beach cleanups throughout the West, East, Gulf, Great Lakes, Hawaiian and Puerto Rican Coasts. Our national Beach Cleanup program provides a fun and easy way to volunteer and engage with our mission to protect our ocean, waves and beaches, for all people. Volunteers of all ages, community groups, tourists, clubs, local and corporate businesses and elected officials around the country contribute to the success of this program and are essential to keep our beaches and coastline clean. Launched in 2018, the Better Beach Alliance was founded by the Surfrider Foundation and REEF to expand the impact of Surfrider’s Beach Cleanup program and amplify the amount of trash removed, volunteers engaged and events hosted.
Ocean Blue Project is an ocean cleanup organization taking action to protect the health of humans, our One World Ocean, beaches, and rivers through collaborative community driven plastic pollution relief, service learning projects, scientific research, and youth education. The main focus of Ocean Blue Project’s ocean cleanup organization is conservation projects, advancing the path to a better future for our one world Ocean.