Thanks to more than 1,200 volunteers committed to keeping Long Island Sound trash-free, this year’s International Coastal Cleanup season was a huge success! With 60 cleanups along Connecticut’s coastline, rivers and ponds, dedicated community members just like you turned out to clean and beautify the treasured places where you fish and swim, making them safer for people and wildlife.
The stats are astounding. This season, volunteers like you cleaned 49 miles of Connecticut coastline, filling 642 bags with 7,617 pounds of trash. It’s an incredible accomplishment!
Some of this season’s strangest finds include Barbie doll clothes, tennis balls, a window and screen, a plastic hand, a pink toy piano, and a rubber ducky. Cigarette butts were the most prevalent type of trash found, with 24,090 collected. Tiny plastic pieces came in second place, a reminder of the importance of the International Coastal Cleanup.
According to the Ocean Conservancy, plastic has been found in 62% of all sea birds and in 100% of sea turtle species. It’s everywhere you look, and lots of places you wouldn’t think to look. Even with volunteers cleaning beaches around the globe, plastic in our waters remains a major danger, threatening the health of people, wildlife, and our regional economy.
But you can help fight to keep Long Island Sound clean all year long by becoming a Save the Sound member! Save the Sound membership starts at $25 per year, and supports a wide range of projects, from weekly water quality sampling in summer months, to rain garden plantings, legal battles from municipal to federal courts, and an on-the-water watchdog who works to track down sources of the Sound’s most challenging pollution problems. Your membership contribution today will help ensure the success of next year’s cleanup season, and support a healthier Long Island Sound for years to come.
We’re grateful to everyone working to help make Long Island Sound safe for humans and wildlife, and we look forward to seeing you at a cleanup next year!