Cleaning Up in California’s Gold Country

On Saturday, September 21st, Sub Sea Systems’ staff joined over one million ocean lovers to remove trash from our beloved waterways. Sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy, the annual International Coastal Cleanup event focuses on freeing our oceans and coastlines from the global challenges of trash and pollution.

The Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit organization, has held cleanups across the globe for over 30 years. More than 100 countries participate in cleanups. The Conservancy provides volunteers more than just a lengthy list of cleanup locations and cleanup kits. It also collects data and reports on cleanup results. Last year, volunteers picked up over 23 million pounds of trash in a single day!

Sub Sea Systems’ team combined forces with the Greater Sierra River Cleanup crew, who removed debris and trash from the Sierra watersheds. 169 volunteers scoured ten different shorelines for three hours. The volunteers covered 11 miles of coastal terrain on foot and recovered 1,500 pounds of trash and recycling, which equates to 3/4th of a 20-yard dumpster. These results will be added to the 10-year totals of nearly 860 tons of trash and recyclables from more than 3,000 miles of river in the Sierras.

While plastic trash accounts for the largest percentage of debris, cigarette butts are the highest singular item collected. In 2017, almost 6 million butts were picked up during the Conservancy’s cleanup. This year, the Sierra crew picked up over 800, with Sub Sea’s team collecting just shy of 400. Additionally, SSS volunteers collected over 100 metal bottle caps and 100 pieces of recyclable paper.

In addition to coastline cleanups, some participants take it a step further. Project Aware works with scuba divers across the globe to protect underwater environments. Project Aware divers span 182 countries and have removed 1,493,381 debris items from 444 miles of underwater habitat.

If you’d like read more about the efforts of the Ocean Conservancy, or if you’re interested in joining next year’s International Coastal Cleanup and fight for trash-free seas, you can “sign up to clean up” at https://oceanconservancy.org/

Sub Sea Systems Crew