19th Annual Coastal Cleanup

With the Alabama Annual Coastal Cleanup only one week away, it is important to look back at what kind of effort is needed to pull off this enormous community effort. These figures came from the Ocean Conservancy:

In 2005, 654 volunteers came out to cleanup 131 miles of shorelines and waterways picking up 20,992 debris items that weighed 19,368 pounds.

Some of the top debris items included: Plastic beverage bottles (12.4%), Cigarettes (12.3%), Glass beverage bottles (10.8%), Caps and lids (10.2%), Beverage cans (9.9%), Building materials (9.1%),

69% of the debris comes from shoreline and recreation activities.

To access the Ocean Conservancy's entire report, and to compare Alabama to other states, go to
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8635

To find out how to participate in the 19th Annual Coastal Cleanup - September 16-19 - visit their website at http://www.alcoastalcleanup.com