One of the greatest things about Florida is the miles upon miles of sandy beaches. Orlando is just about an hour from either coast, making it easy to take advantage of all the beach fun that one can usually only get from living in a small, coastal town. But, with all this beauty of nature there also comes a responsibility to help keep it as pristine as Mother Nature intended. Go to the beach on any given day and you’ll find cigarette butts, empty soda bottles, plastic bags and countless other waste items left behind on the sand, or washed ashore from the ocean. These trash items not only ruin the fun and beauty of the beach for visitors, they also can prove lethal to turtles, birds and other creatures that live in the water, and those that make their homes on or near waterways.

As a result, the Ocean Conservancy will host their annual International Coastal Cleanup this Saturday, September 15. This is the largest and most successful volunteer event of its kind. Since 1986 thousands of volunteers from around the globe have cleared over 100 million pounds of trash from 170,000 miles of shorelines, rivers, lakes and wetlands.

If you’d like to participate you can learn more, and sign up, on the Ocean Conservancy’s Web site. If you don’t live in Florida this site also provides information on local cleanup efforts throughout the world. No matter where you live there is likely a stream or lake nearby that could use your help.

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