About ICC
What is International Coastal Cleanup?
Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is the world's largest volunteer effort for ocean's health. Held every third Saturday of September of each year, hundreds of thousands of volunteers comb lakes, rivers and beaches around the world for trash. For over three decades, more than 12 million volunteers have collected more than 220 million pounds of trash.
Objectives:
To engage people to remove trash and debris from beaches, waterways and other water bodies
To identify the sources of debris
To change behaviors that cause pollution
To raise awareness on the extent of the marine debris problem
To aid in better-informed policy decisions and improved solid waste management programs
What makes ICC different from other Cleanups?
Aside from the simultaneous global execution of the cleanup is the emphasis on organized scientific data collection. Volunteers not only pick up trash but also identify and record the items in a standardized data card. The debris information generated is encoded into a database for analysis by pollution specialists who are racing against time to develop solutions to the marine debris problem.
The Ocean Trash Data Form developed by Ocean Conservancy will be instrumental in determining the effects of specific materials to ocean habitats. By understanding the items collected in greater detail, scientists and ocean advocates will be able to identify the best remedies and advocate for solutions for a cleaner and healthier ocean.
Taking Action to Tackle Trash
The ever increasing amount of trash/debris that can be found in all the world's oceans and seas, even in landlocked and remote areas, combined with the very slow rate of degradation of most items is an ongoing global crisis. The marine debris problem seems to be overwhelming but can be entirely preventable. In partnership with volunteer organizations and individuals around the world, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) tackles the problem by engaging people to remove trash from beaches, rivers, lakes, waterways and underwater areas and encouraging them to record information on the trash collected. Data collected globally will provide us accounting of what’s trashing the world’s oceans over the years. The trash index produced will guide governments, manufacturing industries and businesses in developing smart solutions to the marine debris problem.
During the past quarter century, volunteers have assembled through the International Coastal Cleanup to improve the condition of beaches and waterways and raise awareness about the trash problem. But removal is just one part of the solution which is why in 2012 Ocean Conservancy launched the Trash Free Seas Alliance® (TFSA). The Trash Free Seas Alliance® is the oldest forum of its kind focused on innovative and pragmatic solutions to rid the ocean of plastic pollution and other forms of marine debris. Through the Trash Free Seas Alliance®, corporate members have collectively committed millions of dollars for research on ways to improve waste collection and recycling in parts of the world most impacted by ocean plastic pollution. Conservation members provide insights via research, policy recommendations and collaboration across individual initiatives. Many of the members also support Circulate Capital and The Circulate Initiative, the investment management firms created in partnership with Ocean Conservancy and Closed Loop Partners dedicated to financing companies, projects and infrastructure to prevent ocean plastic pollution.