“Marine debris doesn’t fall from the sky, it falls from human hands—and human hands have the power to stop it.”
This week The Ocean Conservancy published the results of the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup. A RISING TIDE OF OCEAN DEBRIS AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT details the hard work of the more than 380,000 volunteers from 104 countries who cleaned beaches and counted trash last fall. It’s sobering stuff: more than 11 million cigarette butts, plastic bags, food wrappers, plastic bottles, balloons, tangled fishing lines, etc were plucked from beaches around the world.
You can read more highlights and download the full report here. (TRACKING TRASH readers may recognize the seal on the cover of the new ICC report; it’s the same seal featured on the cover of my book. Photographers Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott captured these images of a fur seal entangled in abandoned fishing net on South Georgia Island … and they continue to place them where they will inspire ocean conservation.)
This year’s International Coastal Cleanup will be held on September 19, 2009; mark your calendars now … and sign up here.