Don't be a slob -- help keep the Jersey Shore trash-free

The environmental group Clean Ocean Action announced the results of its 2018 beach sweep cleanup.

News 12 Staff

Apr 3, 2019, 1:16 AM

Updated 1,873 days ago

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Don't be a slob -- help keep the Jersey Shore trash-free
Hey beachgoers! It’s time to start picking up your trash when you visit the Jersey Shore.
The environmental group Clean Ocean Action announced the results of its 2018 beach sweep cleanup. More than 10,000 volunteers collected a record amount of litter from beaches across the state during two days in April and October last year.
The volunteers collected 454,000 pieces of trash in total – 80 percent of it was plastic.
“This is all of us being sloppy and not taking care of the products that we use,” says Cindy Zipf of Clean Ocean Action.
The group collected 5,400 balloons, 75,000 pieces of plastic and 20,000 plastic bottles. The organization says that a lot of the trash doesn’t come just from beachgoers, but washes up in the ocean from the sewers.
“Things that are going down a storm drain are going right out into a waterway. So they'll find their way into a stream, a bigger river…of course, all waterways lead to the ocean,” says the group’s Allison Meyerhoff. “And that's how all that debris washes into the ocean eventually and then onto the shore.”
The next beach sweep is scheduled for April 13 at locations all over the state. Volunteers can sign up on the group’s website.


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