Ocean Cleanup Collects 7.4M Pounds of Trash

Nearly 500,000 volunteers around the world combed their local beaches and waterways on a single day last year collecting more than 7.4 million pounds of trash.

Ocean Conservancy yesterday released statistics from the 24th annual International Coastal Cleanup, offering a bleak snapshot of the waste that affects ocean and freshwater environments. 

Volunteers found:

• 336 marine animals, including 138 birds, entangled in marine debris–120 of the animals were still alive and released
• 512,517 cups, plates, forks, knives and spoons–enough to provide a full set of dinnerware to over 100,000 people
• 58,881 bottles of oil/lube–equivalent to the amount used to change the oil in nearly 12,000 mid-sized cars
• 2,189,252 cigarette butts; and 26,617 condoms

Read additional coverage at the link below.