Hopefully, your summer has been full ofs. The weather is some parts of the country will be warm enough to swimin the ocean for at least another month, so there’s still time left to squeeze in one more trip! As summer winds down, though, it’s time to start thinking about how you can give back to a beach or coastline near you. Let’s clean up our beaches and oceans!

is taking place on Saturday, September 17. In 2010, over 82,000 volunteers removed 1.2 million pounds of trash and recyclables from California’s lakes, beaches and waterways – that’s an amazing effort! Let’s see if we can beat that record this year. California Coastal Cleanup Day is part of the larger that takes place ever year on the third Saturday in September. According to in 2010, 7.4 million pounds of trash were removed from our world’s waterways by volunteers. Incredible!

This goes to show you that yes, you can make a difference! Grab a group of friends and , or join one that’s already been organized.

Don’t worry if you don’t live near a big body of water, you can still help! You can pick up trash around small lakes and streams, or work inland — so much of our trash in inland areas makes its way into lakes and streams via gutters — clean up the trash at the source before it has a chance to reach our oceans. Or, get involved in an educational campaign. There are so many things you can do to help.

Some of the statistics from these cleanup efforts are really mind blowing, and hopefully they’ll inspire you to get involved. For example, last year, volunteers all over the worlds picked up over one million plastic bottles — in one day. Let’s get out there and clean up our waters!

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(1)
URL: http://beaches.uptake.com/blog/international-coastal-cleanup-day-september-17.html/center-team-holds-ecoslo-coastal-clean-up-banner-at-oceans-edge
(2) trips to some beautiful beache
URL: http://www.uptake.com/south_carolina/myrtle_beach.html
(3) California Coastal Cleanup Day
URL: http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html
(4) International Coastal Cleanup Day
URL: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/international-coastal-cleanup-6.html
(5) Ocean Conservancy,
URL: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/international-coastal-cleanup-6.html
(6) sign up for a cleanup in your area
URL: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/international-coastal-cleanup-6.html
(7) New York Coastal Cleanup
URL: http://www.alsnyc.org/nycsites.htm
(8) California Coastal Cleanup
URL: http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html
(9) Florida Coastal Cleanup
URL: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/cmp/icc_poster.pdf
(10) Washington Coastal Cleanup
URL: http://www.dailyhiker.com/news/save-date-washington-coastal-clean-up/
(11) Mississippi Coastal Cleanu
URL: http://www.masgc.org/cleanup/index.htm
(12)
URL: http://beaches.uptake.com/blog/international-coastal-cleanup-day-september-17.html/beach-trash
(13) Mikebaird
URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3935513830/
(14) mesaba
URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mesaba/5030416407/