The ocean is a mirror that reflects what is in our city streets. Rain, flash flooding or high winds washes litter and debris downhill, into street drains, urban streams, rivers, lakes, and eventually into the ocean. When it gets there depends on how far from the ocean you live. Plastic does not decompose; instead, it breaks down into tiny microplastics and harmful chemicals. These enter the water supply, and then the digestive tracts of humans and animals, threatening our water quality, our health, and wildlife.

Plastic in the Ocean Facts

Plastic pollution stretches from shorelines and the ocean surface to deep in the seabed. Of hundreds of millions of tons produced each year, only a tiny percentage is recycled. Most are poorly disposed of or leak from landfills and incineration facilities. According to a report by the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme:

Millions of marine animals have died from plastic pollution in oceans.

Every year, between ten and twenty million tons of plastic waste escape into oceanic waters.

By the year 2050, the ocean is projected to have more plastic by weight than fish.

How to Save the Ocean from Pollution

Cleanups raise awareness and promote healthy environments, watersheds, and clean water projects that save the ocean from pollution. With a group, organization, friends or family, or even on your own, you can volunteer to help anytime, anywhere. Additionally, there are numerous volunteer opportunities for beach cleanups, regularly updated on platforms like Facebook, especially for events organized by Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful.

There are several ways to help. It’s simple. Together, though beach cleaning activities we can make a vast difference, one person, one step at a time. We’ll provide all the tools and instructions you need to save the ocean from pollution! Be sure to register your cleanup event eight weeks in advance for the best possible cleanup experience.

Collecting Plastic Debris Saves Lives

Our mission is to prevent the devastating effects of ocean pollution and educate communities along the way. Whether you’re a party of one or one hundred, every pound of plastic removed from a beach, shoreline, waterway or urban area helps stop plastic from polluting oceans, breaking down into microplastics and harmful chemicals, and hurting or killing marine wildlife.

Cigarette butts are a common type of trash collected during beach cleanups.

One Piece of Plastic and One Life at a Time

Every piece of plastic you recover from our environment allows greater chances of survival for marine life and seabirds. We can rescue them from harm simply by cleaning up the environment, one piece of plastic at a time. Even removing a few pieces can save lives of seabirds, penguins, eagles, fish, dolphins, seals, whales, pinnipeds, manatees, sea turtles, and many other creatures. No quantity or piece of plastic collected is too small!

Plastic Pollution in the Ocean: How Many Animals Die from Pollution?

In a report, Ocean Blue Project analyzed research on the effects of plastic pollution on wildlife and marine biodiversity. According to a United Nations Environment Program report, plastic causes an estimated $13 billion financial damage each year to marine ecosystems. This damage not only wreaks havoc on animals, it threatens human survival, which depends on the ocean ecosystem.

Plastic and Litter in the Ocean

Each year plastic in the ocean kills an estimated one million seabirds and about 100,000 marine mammals, and severely injures thousands more. Many species, including already vulnerable and critically endangered sea turtles, get trapped and tangled in plastic debris, ghost fishing gear or fragments of abandoned nets.

Even if they don’t get caught, a shocking number of mammals and birds also mistake litter in the ocean, like small pieces of plastic for food. On beaches or underwater, plastic fragments can look a lot like other food to birds and animals. They trust what they find in their natural habitats. Alarming percentages of seabirds and marine species accidentally ingest plastic debris. Even small pieces can clog their digestive systems so badly that they eventually die, or the plastic in the ocean breaks down into toxic chemicals that lead to malnutrition and disease, reduced life span or reproductive capacity.

Plastics in the Food Chain

Marine mammals are at great risk. Numerous seals, dolphins, whales, sea lions, walruses, sea turtles, manatees and fish have consumed fatal amounts of the plastic debris, hence plastics in the food chain. In one case, a harp seal pup in eastern Canada died after ingesting a 2-inch piece of plastic, later found in its stomach near the intestine. Predators high up the food chain ingest even more microplastics from eating other species. Among deceased marine organisms, studies found ingested sea plastic in:

• A majority of sea turtle species; with 9% dead from ingesting plastic debris

• 100% of Seabass, which are predators

• 40% of Sperm Whales

• 28% of Dolphins

• 14% of manatees, which are already endangered and mistakenly eat plastic fragments camouflaged in the seagrass, algae and vegetation of their diets

• 11% of Harbor Seal

Likewise, ocean plastic debris puts numerous birds in grave danger. Millions of seabirds mistakenly ingest plastic debris, or feed it to their chicks, and more than a million die each year as a result. Birds such as mollymawks, petrels and shearwaters, eagles, and others consume hard plastic fragments from bottles and containers or soft pieces of balloon fragments and polystyrene. Studies that examined deceased bird species found ingested plastic in:

• 63% of Albatross

• Almost half (47%) of Eagles

• More than one third (35%) of Penguins

• About one third (32%) of seabirds

Read our report on the effects of ocean plastic on marine life

Let’s Save Our One World Ocean!

The amount of ocean plastic we can recover depends on Ocean cleanup volunteers like you! Join us in community beach cleanups to protect our coastline. With partners, Ocean Blue Project is working on technology to recover microplastics from beaches, and to upcycle ocean plastic into new packaging and products, from shampoo bottles to buttons and skateboards. We need your help to safeguard the health of future generations, our water sources, and marine ecosystems. We’ve supported many organizations and individuals to help accomplish our mission. You can join the companies, universities, schools, youth groups, government agencies, families, friends and individuals who are making a vast difference!

“Plastic is washing up at alarming rates… destroying our ocean and harming our coast. Ocean Blue Project is working with federal agencies, universities, industry, and additional partners to find ways to reduce the amount of plastic on the Oregon coast. I, Kate Brown, Governor of the State of Oregon, hereby proclaim April 23, 2017 to be Annual Oregon Coast Cleanup Awareness Day and encourage all Oregonians to join in this observance.”

– Official Proclamation, State of Oregon, Office of the Governor, 2017

Beach Cleanup Best Practices

To ensure a successful and safe beach cleanup, follow these best practices:

• Arrive on time and check in with the site captain or coordinator

• Wear closed-toe shoes, gloves, and protective clothing

• Bring reusable bags, buckets, and grabbers to collect trash

• Sort recyclables from non-recyclables and dispose of trash properly

• Stay hydrated and bring water and snacks as needed

• Respect the environment and wildlife, and avoid disturbing sensitive habitats

Beach Clean Up Near Me

Thank you for supporting the mission of Ocean Blue Project, an Oregon-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to empowering individuals and communities to take a stand against plastic pollution.

We regularly update our platforms with volunteer opportunities for beach cleanups, making it easy for you to get involved and help keep our shores pristine.