Marine debris, or trash in our waterways, is a huge ongoing issue around the world. Even though volunteers remove tons of trash every year during our stream cleanup events, trash accumulates quickly in our waterways. In fact, various studies show that 5 to 12 million tons of plastic from the land goes into our oceans each year, not including rivers and the Great Lakes. The easiest way to help fix the problem is keep your trash from ending up in our rivers by REDUCING, REUSING, and RECYCLING.
While PCS is going ahead strong in trash removal efforts, we cannot do it alone. We are working hard to educate everyone to prevent marine debris and the process begins with you. It is much easier to prevent trash from getting into the rivers, thangetting it out once in the water. Start changing your habits with small steps like avoiding using straws and coffee lids (single use plastics) and making sure your trash bags are tightly closed. While these changes seem small, they add up quickly. The most common pieces of trash found during our cleanups are things like straw, plastic bottles, cigarette butts and plastic eating utensils. This trend can only be changed by individuals like you.
You can take greater charge by being part of Clean Your Streams or another cleanup. If cleanups are “not your thing”, you can donate to help us put on river cleanups, educate the public and leverage local donations into much bigger grants to make a large impact on the Marine Debris issue in your area.