One of our big annual coastwide cleanups is around the corner! On Saturday, April 23rd, thousands of dedicated volunteers, beach lovers, environmental stewards, and non-profit groups will visit the shorelines of Puget Sound and the outer coast to spend the morning removing harmful marine debris from our beaches.
Since the early 2000's, the Washington Clean Coast Alliance's CoastSavers program organizes three large cleanups: WCC in the spring on a Saturday around Earth Day; July 5th; and International Coastal Cleanup Day in September. This collaborative effort of community groups, non-profits, State and National Parks, Tribes, and passionate volunteers results in the removal of literally tons of garbage from our coasts.
Surfrider is a long-standing member of the Washington Clean Coast Alliance, and all of our Washington Chapters are hosting cleanups at their local beaches (more info on those below). You can also visit the CoastSavers website to find and register to help clean a beach near you! Most locations will have a registration station where you can sign in and borrow gear (or BYO if you have buckets, pickers, and reusable gloves).
This year, CoastSavers is doing a little something extra. As part of a NOAA Marine Debris grant, we'll be piloting a project to divert some of the debris we collect away from the landfill. We're working with Net Your Problem and Ocean Legacy Foundation, along with all our WCCA partners, to sort the debris we collect at select locations (Ocean City, Ocean Shores, and Ozette) and transport them to recycling facilities.
Below is a list of our chapter's WCC locations and links to register for their specific events. Chapters always need help sorting and counting the trash that's collected, as well as entering those data into our Beach Cleanups Database. We use these data to advocate for solutions to plastic pollution, such as our plastic bag ban and styrofoam ban.
Northwest Straits
Our Bellingham Chapter has their Earth Day Cleanup on Friday from 12:00 - 2:00 at Birch Bay State Park - register here!
Seattle
The Seattle Chapter is hosting a Clean & Cruise in partnership with Urban Surf - register here!
South Sound
Our Tacoma Chapter is hosting their cleanup at Jack Hyde Park as part of the Ikkatsu Project's Tacoma Shoreline Survey - more information here!
Olympia
The Oly Chapter is hosting TWO locations this year - their usual spot at Twin Harbors State Park (the Bonge Ave approach), as well as a new location at Ocean Shores (the Chance a la Mer approach).
Olympic Peninsula
The OPC is also hosting TWO locations this year - one at Ediz Hook, and the other at Hobuck! You can register for either of these stations via the Coastsavers website, and sign up for the OPC's newsletter and follow them on social media for more details.
