A Beach-Cleaning Project

[Greenybee11]

A beach-cleaning T-shirt
United By Blue promises to take a pound of trash off the beach for each organic cotton T-shirt sold.
Tue, Jun 08 2010 at 6:36 PM EST



Photos courtesy of United By Blue
So, you didn’t have time to join a beach cleanup on World Oceans Day yesterday? A new green company will do the dirty work for you — if you become a customer.

Called United By Blue, this green apparel and accessories company promises to remove a pound of beach trash per item sold. Buy a “Plastic Jellyfish” T-shirt for $29.50, and you’ll get to wear a cleverly designed shirt that shows how plastic debris can look like edible jellyfish to hungry marine creatures — while feeling virtuous for having helped clean up the beach.

Who actually picks up the trash? Anyone who wants to organize a beach cleanup — and wants United By Blue’s help to organize it. Simply fill out a form with your event’s details, and United By Blue will send over all the supplies you need — plus a free organic cotton T-shirt to reward your do-gooderism.

United By Blue launched yesterday — with the goal of removing 15,000 pounds of trash by the end of the year. Both men’s and women’s T-shirts are available, as is a stylish organic canvas bag. All items are packaged plastic-free!

[littlegreenfairy]

That is an awesome idea!

If you are in the Los Angeles area, there is a volunteer beach cleaning happening soon:

Volunteer beach cleanup Saturday in Playa del Rey

The June Nothin' But Sand beach cleanup is set to take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Toes Beach in Playa del Rey.

Hosted by Heal the Bay, the cleanups are held on the third Saturday of each month at different locales and are an opportunity to lend a hand helping keep our local shores tidy.

All cleaning supplies will be provided, so volunteers are welcome to just show up (those younger than 12 need to be accompanied by a parent).

Attendees should plan on bringing their own drinking water as well as a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. More information on what to wear and bring is available on the Heal the Bay website.

Liability waivers will be available on-site and must be signed before pitching in. Participants 17 and younger must have a parent or guardian sign their form.

Parking is either metered or available near Del Rey Lagoon.

Volunteers should plan to meet in the parking lot at Pacific and 62nd avenues. The staging area will be just west of the bike path, near Lifeguard Tower 40.

Groups of 10 or more are asked to call (800) 432-5229, ext. 148 to let organizers know they plan to join in.

-- Kelly Burgess

[jonyboyy]

Where do you guys find these organized events !!!!!!!!!

[kymsolaris]

Here is article about an inspiring cleanup event that already successfully took place:

Volunteers help clean up Big Piney River

More than 65 volunteers floated the Big Piney River on July 17 and collected trash along the way.

The Big Piney Watershed Committee -- along with Top of the Ozarks Resource Conservation and Development -- sponsored the event as an effort to connect people to the river through hands-on stewardship and educational activities. It was the first big clean up event on the Big Piney River.

Participants traveled from local communities as well as the Springfield, Jefferson City, Columbia and St. Louis areas to meet early Saturday morning at Boiling Springs Resort in Licking. Approximately 25 canoes and kayaks were sent out, covering a 14.5-mile stretch of the Big Piney River as volunteers searched for trash, tires and other objects that were in the river as well as the banks and piles of drift wood.

Twenty-eight tires were picked up. One was still attached to a wheel and two were from a large diesel truck. Other items found were headlights, a rusted paint can, standing toilet seat, 10-foot corrugated piece of metal, 55 gallon metal drum, half of a 55 gallon plastic drum, a thermos, articles of clothing and shoes as well as glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans, aerosol cans and random pieces of metal. All trash is being recycled or disposed of.

This event was possible with the help of local sponsors through monetary donations to help with food and canoes for volunteers as well as gifts for door prizes for volunteers. For a full list of sponsors, trash and for photos from the event, visit Top of the Ozarks' website at [url=http://www.totorcd.org/energy-natural-resource/water-quality]Water Quality[/url]

[someguy]

Honda Starts Beach Cleaning Project with Self-Developed Cleaner
Honda Motor Co. of Japan has developed unique towable beach cleaners and has started the "Honda Beach Cleaning Project" to provide clean and safe beaches for the bare feet of the next generation. On the first day of the project, May 16, 2006, 21 forty-liter bags of trash were collected in four and a half hours at Katase Kaigan in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Honda has developed two types of cleaner: the "Sand Rake" and the "Sand Screen." Both are towed by all-terrain vehicles from the United States. They are light, compact, easy to operate and maintain, and are friendly to beach's ecosystem. The two types of cleaner are used according to the type of sand, trash or intended purpose.

The "Sand Rake" hooks and collects plastics, wood chips and fishing lines, while the "Sand Screen" churns up the surface of the sand and separates trash from the sand to collect cigarette butts, plastic bottles, glass fragments, debris from fireworks and tar balls generated by accidents at sea.

The Honda Beach Cleaning Project aims to collect trash effectively to maintain beautiful and safe beaches through its "Beach Cleaning Caravan," consisting of about 15 current and retired employees. The company plans to clean about 20 beaches nationwide by the end of March 2007 in order to demonstrate its community-based corporate citizenship.