Surfrider's Beach Cleanup Report Exposes Alarming Scale of Plastic Pollution on America's Beaches

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Jul 16, 2024, 10:05 ET

86% of All Items Collected at 2023 Beach Cleanups Were Single-Use Plastics

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., July 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Surfrider Foundation's 2023 Beach Cleanup Report exposes our society's growing yet unnecessary dependence on single-use plastic foodware, the threat it poses to our ocean, and how Surfrider's policy and programmatic activists are tackling this issue head-on. This report also highlights Surfrider's cleanup efforts across 200 chapters and student clubs nationwide and reveals the items most often collected during Surfrider beach cleanups.

The day after the 4th of July is the dirtiest beach day of the year. Surfrider's volunteer network showed up to beach cleanups across the country on July 5th to pick up trash left behind after the celebrations. In 2023, 1,300+ activists picked up over 100,000 pounds of trash from America's beaches. In addition to protecting our coasts and waterways from plastic pollution, Surfrider uses the data collected from beach cleanups to help pass plastic reduction laws and policies.

Nine out of the top 10 items found during Surfrider's 2023 cleanups were made of plastic, including cigarette butts, which remain the #1 most littered item on U.S. beaches, accounting for 26% of all items collected.

Surfrider's Beach Cleanup program focuses on ocean and coastal trash, primarily caused by rampant plastic pollution, through organized community action – engaging over 34,000 volunteers across 985 cleanups to remove 225,000 pounds of trash along our nation's coastlines last year. Additionally, the Beach Cleanup program supports public education efforts and, by itemizing what is picked up, provides the underlying data needed to bolster Surfrider's plastic pollution advocacy campaigns.

Surfrider's beach cleanup data confirms once again, year after year, that plastic pollution is everywhere. Although Surfrider activists are working tirelessly to protect our ocean, waves, and beaches, we cannot simply beach clean our way out of this mess without large-scale legislative interventions and industry innovations to rapidly shift away from single-use plastic products. Only by turning off the tap of plastic production can we ensure that our sustainable vision for a plastic-free, climate-friendly future becomes a reality.

Beyond Beach Cleanups

Surfrider's Ocean Friendly Restaurants (OFR) program is exemplifying what a plastic-free future can look like – one meal at a time. The OFR program recognizes restaurants' commitment to eliminating single-use plastics and provides a simple, straightforward framework to help owners make sustainable choices and achieve operational best practices to better protect our ocean. This includes an Ocean Friendly Foodware Guide to help restaurants avoid greenwashing and source more sustainable foodware options. In 2023, 540 OFRs in 28 states and Puerto Rico served more than 36 million meals free of single-use plastics!

Surfrider and our partners are also making great strides through "Skip the Stuff" policy advocacy. These bills aim to change consumer expectations of takeout and delivery orders by requiring customers to opt in rather than automatically receiving disposable foodware. Given that 98% of all U.S. takeout or delivery meals are consumed at home or a workplace, where reusable cutlery is readily available, these "Skip the Stuff" bills not only protect the environment but save restaurants money as well, reducing the massive $20 billion they collectively spend on single-use items across the country each year.

ABOUT SURFRIDER FOUNDATION
The Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world's ocean, waves, and beaches for all people through a powerful activist network. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains more than a million supporters, activists, and members, with over 200 volunteer-led chapters and student clubs in the U.S., and more than 800 victories protecting our coasts. Learn more at surfrider.org.

SOURCE Surfrider Foundation