Why help clean the beach?
- More than 50% of Americans live within 50 miles of the coast and 180 million people visit the coasts each year.
- The ocean produces half of the world’s oxygen. That means half of every breath you take comes from the ocean.
- More than 1 billion people depend on fish from the ocean as their primary source of protein.
- The ocean covers 70% of Earth's surface and contains 97% of the planet’s water.
How to help: One important way to clean up beach water starts at home, simply by capturing storm water before it carries pollution to our shores. Use rain barrels or cisterns to capture storm water, and reuse it for landscape irrigation to save on potable water costs. Have a rain garden, green roof, or permeable pavement, which allow rainwater to filter back into the ground where it falls or evaporate into the air. Demand that pollution control officials require that these smart techniques be used at runoff sources like big box stores, roadways, and parking lots. Once you hit the sand, help keep our beaches clean by picking up pet waste, putting swim diapers with plastic covers on babies, and keeping trash off the beach.