Photos courtesy of the Ocean Conservancy
Tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of volunteers will be combing their local beaches in honor of International Coastal Cleanup Day. For more than 30 years, the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental organization focused on the protection and restoration of the oceans, has sponsored the mid-September event.
Whether fighting to pass legislation to protect key habitats or organizing beach cleanups, the Ocean Conservancy is driven to conserve the coasts and restore the ocean’s health. The group works internationally on a plethora of projects with indigenous communities, legislators, scientists, and now, mobile app developers.
Plus, as individuals collect, Clean Swell teaches them about the impacts littering has on the oceans and offers tips for what to do about it. Volunteers can share their findings on social media and encourage others to step up and join the movement. The app also tracks total distance covered, total weight of trash gathered, and a record of participants’ personal cleanup efforts. The idea is to offer a fulfilling sense of accomplishment after a long day spent litter-picking.
Kollar hopes that Clean Swell can make trash data entry into a fun, simple process for the annual Coastal Cleanup and beyond. “I would like to see it expand in coming years, with additional languages to unite a larger volunteer base,” she says. Kollar’s favorite feature? A field that allows a group to name itself and compile trash data in the same virtual garbage bin. Encouraging this group mentality, she says, could go a long way toward broadening the reach of these cleanups and getting more beachgoers involved.
Davis Harper is a Fall 2017 intern and a senior environmental studies major at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He works at Natural Bridges State Beach and Wilder Ranch State Park as a Visitor Service Aide for Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.
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- oceans