Aptly named, International Coastal Cleanup Saturday looks to thousands of Floridians this September 15 to help beautify Florida’s coasts, rivers, lakes and wetlands. Be a part of it. You’ll be joined by hundreds of thousands of volunteers globally who are working in their communities to remove trash--on land and underwater. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas will participate and partner with other community organizations from Pensacola to Key West to support this effort.

Volunteers, clean up in your own way—it may be different for everyone. If you fish, walk the shorelines with a baitcaster and a trash bag tied around a belt loop. Kayakers, boaters and canoeists take to the water and remove litter and debris wherever you find it—don’t forget to fish in celebration of a good day’s work. Data will be collected about the types of marine debris found, allowing organizers to compile, analyze and track the data year-by-year.

The International Coastal Cleanup focuses on pollution cleanup, but it’s really about pollution prevention—ever since the Ocean Conservancy’s first organized Cleanup on South Padre Island, Texas in 1986. More than 80 percent of the litter collected is small and portable--all things that could have easily been disposed of properly.

To participate in this year’s event please visit spoilislandproject.org/news/modules/news/ or contact Dana Moller at (772) 429-2995, extension 23 for more information on how your local community can be involved. Email Dana at dana.moller@dep.state.fl.us.