Talking trash: 10 years of cleaning coastlines

One of the tragic consequences of marine debris is that fish, animals and birds mistake it for real food, which can lead to intestinal blockage, starvation and death

December 17, 1998
Web posted at: 4:30 PM EST

By Environmental News Network staff

(ENN) -- The Center for Marine Conservation, which has been organizing an annual coastal cleanup for the past 10 years, is looking back to see what has been accomplished and forward to see what needs to be done.

Since 1986, the Annual International Coastal Cleanup has grown from 2,800 volunteers on the coast of Texas to almost 300,000 volunteers in the 50 states and five U.S. territories and more than 90 countries.

What have we learned in 10 years?

The most important point seems to be that we have no one to blame but ourselves.

The center puts out a Dirty Dozen list each year, and it hasn't changed much. Rather than marine pollution being a problem caused mainly by the big bad shipping industry, 60 to 80 percent of the trash collected consists of every-day items.

"The main source of the bottles, cans, cigarette butts, balloons and fishing line on the world's beaches and waterways is not fishermen, or merchant and cruise ships, or industrial activity," said Roger McManus, CMC president. "It's you and I, improperly discarding our trash. Every piece of trash collected from the International Coastal Cleanup has a human face behind it. Individuals are a large part of the problem, but through the International Coastal Cleanup, individuals also become the solution."

Last year, in just three hours:

• Worldwide, 342,026 volunteers removed more than 6.2 million pounds of trash from 9,022 miles of shoreline both above and below the water.
• In the United States on land and underwater, 175,006 volunteers picked up more than 3.5 million pounds of trash from 7,093 miles of U.S. shorelines at 3,114 sites.
• Underwater, 5,551 volunteers collected 349,540 pounds of litter from 161 miles of U.S. waters at 159 sites.

Somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources

Of course, it was even worse in the past. An estimated 14 billion pounds of debris were once dumped into the ocean every year. Merchant ships alone jettisoned 5.5 million containers into the sea every day. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, commonly referred to as the MARPOL (MARine POLlution) Treaty, is the legal cornerstone of international cleanup efforts and made most ocean dumping illegal. Compliance and enforcement require constant vigilance.

The question of marine debris isn't simply one of unsightliness. One of the most horrifying effects of marine debris is its damaging, often lethal impact on birds and marine animals. At least 99 of the world's 312 species of sea birds are reported to ingest plastic. Every year, an estimated 30,000 northern fur seals die due to entanglement in plastic debris. Lost or abandoned monofilament fishing line is particularly deadly -- and prevalent. In one Florida cleanup, volunteers retrieved 254 miles of fishing line in just three hours.

The center has published a report titled "The International Coastal Cleanup: How a Good Idea Grew," that both revisits the past and outlines the challenges ahead. CMC calls the annual event "above all a massive campaign of public education and action."

The annual cleanup event takes place from 9 a.m. to noon on the third Saturday in September.

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