Save the Sound released its data from the 2024 cleanup season, tracking another year of cleanup data and continuing trends in trash.
In 2024, 3,167 volunteers picked up 11,383 pounds of trash at 92 cleanups at beaches, lakes, and parks inland and along the coastline across Connecticut and New York. The most common trash types collected were cigarette butts (16,593), food wrappers (12,578), bottle caps (11,935 plastic and metal caps combined), and small plastic pieces (9,977) —the same top trash types for the past eight years.
“Cleanups are important because they keep us connected to nature, to our communities, and let us work towards having a more sustainable future,” said Mar Parsaye, Save the Sound’s 2024 seasonal cleanup coordinator. “Not just for humans but for everything that is connected to Long Island Sound and beyond.”
Save the Sound has been the official Connecticut coordinator for the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup since 2002 and has dramatically grown year-round cleanups in Connecticut over the last several years. Now, the regional organization will add more cleanups in New York outside of the International Coastal Cleanup season in an expanded effort toward a trash-free Long Island Sound region.
Over the last eight years, cleanup captains and volunteers have collected more than half a million pieces of trash and gathered data on trash types and amounts along the way. When this data is compared year-to-year, it paints a clear picture of trash trends throughout the state of Connecticut, which Save the Sound uses to advocate for policies that stop trash at its source. Annual cleanup data is also shared with the Ocean Conservancy, which compiles a global report on the yield of each International Coastal Cleanup Day.
“I was surprised to learn how effective legislation can be,” Parsaye said. “We collected fewer beer bottles this year because of the bottle deposit increase—and the same thing with plastic grocery bags. We find way fewer now because of Connecticut’s enacted ban.”
The 2025 season will kick off with three Earth Day cleanups:
- Norwalk, CT: Veterans Memorial Park; Saturday, April 26, 9:30-11:30 a.m.
- Rye, NY: Rye Town Beach; Saturday, April 26, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
- Hamden, CT: Perimeter of Six Lakes; Sunday, April 27, 12:00-2:00 p.m.
Volunteers can register for any of the Earth Day cleanups online.
We thank our corporate sponsors and individual donors who support the cleanup program year after year. Corporate partners to support our cleanup program with financial contributions or in-kind gifts of essential supplies. In return, we highlight you as heroes in the fight against pollution in our digital communications and cleanup swag! To coordinate a company cleanup for your organization or make a supportive contribution, please e-mail our Cleanup Coordinator, Annalisa Paltauf, at apaltauf@savethesound.org.