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BEACH CLEANUPS
Every year in September, we sponsor a beach cleanup in Ocean Beach, in conjunction with the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup event. Dozens of volunteers, young and old, gather at the Cottage Walk Dune Overpass to collect and identify trash & debris along the beach. Snacks are provided and prizes are given out to the children. We typically gather and catalogue over 100 pounds of refuse. Be on the lookout for the next beach clean-up coming later this year!

VOBEC, in conjunction with Ocean Conservancy participates in the International Coastal Cleanup every September and had another successful event in the fall of 2022. Over 130 people took part in this important initiative with the goal of collecting data from our beaches on a worldwide scale, bringing awareness to the priority of keeping our beaches free of garbage.

With the help of volunteers from Point O'Woods, Ocean Bay Park, Seaview, Ocean Beach, Corneille Estates, Summer Club and Robbins Rest, over 2600 pieces of trash were collected over the few hours of this concentrated effort. As in past years, plastic items accounted for 52% percent of all trash found. The good news is that number is down from 68% in 2021. Interestingly, foam, cigarette butts and food wrappers increased from 14.3% in 2021 to 26.71% in 2022 with cigarette butts accounting for most of the increase. If we could only get smokers to dispose of their cigarette butts more carefully!

The other interesting statistic is that the overall number of trash collected decreased by 48% compared to the previous year. Hopefully, VOBEC's efforts of stressing the importance of keeping our beaches clean is working. Thanks to all for your efforts in saving our beaches, oceans and planet!

For more information on this project, visit the Ocean Conservancy website:
» oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/international-coastal-cleanup/

Trash collection results from 2022: click here.

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