Save The Bay is calling community members who love Rhode Island’s shoreline and want to do something good in our community. Saturday, September 16 is the International Coastal Cleanup, and thousands of volunteers are needed to help remove litter and debris from more than 80 beaches and shoreline throughout the Ocean State.
Largest global volunteer effort for the ocean
The International Coastal Cleanup, organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Ocean Conservancy and locally by Save The Bay, is the largest global volunteer effort on behalf of the ocean. To register as a volunteer, visit savebay.org/icc.
“The International Coastal Cleanup is a fun and easy way to give back to the community by cleaning up the shore. But it is much more than that. We are contributing to the global research on marine debris and taking action on a looming environmental crisis,” said Save The Bay Volunteer Manager July Lewis.
On August 3, the United States Senate passed bipartisan legislation to address the marine debris epidemic affecting America’s oceans. Data from the International Coastal Cleanup was a key part of testimony supporting that bill.
Save The Bay Executive Director Jonathan Stone, who testified before a Senate subcommittee, said, “passage of this bill is a wonderful example of how our local volunteers, through their involvement in the International Coastal Cleanup in Rhode Island, have helped influence a significant policy development at the federal level.”
Cleanup sites on September 16 will stretch from Smithfield to Block Island.
For volunteers who aren’t available on September 16, cleanups will be held on alternate dates in September and October. At each cleanup, beach captains give volunteers gloves, trash bags, pencils, and a sheet on which to record and tally what they pick up. Volunteers then head out, often in pairs or small groups, on the hunt for cigarette butts, food wrappers, bottles and cans, abandoned fishing line and more.
At the end of the cleanup, all the data from Rhode Island’s cleanups become part of an annual report on marine debris around the globe.
Last year in Rhode Island, 2,205 volunteers collected and removed 14,911 pounds of trash from 65 miles of shoreline.
“It’s always so terrific to see thousands of volunteers participate in this event! There are so many people who care so deeply about our shoreline, and who are willing to say “It’s not OK to trash the Bay,” said Lewis
New cleanup sites will continue to be added over the next month. Please be sure to see the Save The Bay website for additional sites not listed here. To date, cleanup locations still in need of community volunteers include the following. Those without dates will be completed on September 16:
Barrington:
Barrington Town Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Block Island:
Block Island Town Beach (Sept 17, 10 a.m.-noon)
Bristol:
Colt State Park (Oct 3, 10 a.m.-noon)
Jacob’s Point (Sept 17, 10 a.m.-noon)
Pebble Beach/Ferry Rd, 10 a.m.-noon
Charlestown:
Charlestown Breachway, 10 a.m.-noon
Charlestown Town Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Charlestown Shoreline with RIMS, 8:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m
Cranston:
Stillhouse Cove, 10 a.m.-noon
Tongue Pond (Sept 20, 10 a.m.-noon)
East Providence:
Bold Point, 10 a.m.-noon
Little Compton:
Little Compton Town Shoreline, 9-11 a.m.
Middletown:
Second Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Third Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Narragansett:
Aunt Carrie’s Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Ferry Beach, 9-11 a.m.
Narragansett Town Beach (Sept 23, 10 a.m.-noon)
Salty Brine (Sept 22, 10 a.m.-noon)
Newport:
Easton’s Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
North Kingstown:
Compass Rose Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Pawtucket:
Festival Pier (Sept 19, 10 a.m.-noon)
Portsmouth:
Common Fence Point (Sept 30, 10 a.m.-noon)
Sandy Beach, 9-11 a.m.
Providence:
Field’s Point Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Collier Point, 8-10 a.m.
Smithfield:
Georgiaville Pond (and Smithfield Sites), 9-11 a.m.
Somerset, MA:
Brayton Point (Sept 9, 10 a.m.-noon)
South Kingstown:
South Kingstown Town Beach. 10 a.m.-noon
Warwick:
Apponaug Cove, 10 a.m.-noon
Chepiwanoxet Point, 10 a.m.-noon
Longmeadow Fishing Area, 10 a.m.-noon
Oakland Beach, 10 a.m.-noon
Rocky Point, 10 a.m.-noon
Salter Grove, 10 a.m.-noon
Warwick City Park, 10 a.m.-noon
Westerly:
Westerly Shoreline with RIMS (8:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.)
Thanks to sponsors
Rhode Island’s International Coastal Cleanup is supported by local businesses and corporations offering financial support and volunteer teams. Save The Bay thanks current sponsors —Citizens Bank, National Grid, Tanury Industries, Gemalto, Caster Communications, Strategic Retirement Partners, South County Tourism Council, Matunuck Oyster Bar, Bay Coast Bank. MetLife, and Matunuck Properties — who make the cleanup possible.
Rhode Island’s International Coastal Cleanup is supported by local businesses and corporations that offer financial support and volunteer teams. Save The Bay thanks current sponsors – Bank of America, West Hartford, Caster Communications, Strategic Retirement Partners, South County Tourism Council, Matunuck Oyster Bar and MetLife.
About Save The Bay: Founded in 1970, Save The Bay works to protect and improve Narragansett Bay and its watershed through advocacy, education, and restoration efforts. It envisions a fully swimmable, fishable, healthy Narragansett Bay, accessible to everyone and globally recognized as an environmental treasure.
