Pollution prevention is our ultimate goal, but while there’s still litter on the beach, we’ll be out there to clean it up. With the help of volunteers, we’ve removed over 195,000 pounds of litter from our local beaches since 2001.
Beach cleanups are a great way to get involved in protecting the marine environment and a great way to get exercise! On our beach cleanups, we spend 2 hours collecting trash off a local beach and recording our findings – so you also get to contribute to our long-term study on marine pollution. Our cleanups include a short presentation about local marine debris issues and ways you can help protect the marine environment. We’ll also weigh our trash at the end. It’s an excellent way for kids to learn, too!
View our 2023 Beach Cleanup Data
Download our 2022 Beach Cleanup Summary (PDF)
Get Involved
Request a Private Beach Cleanup for Your Group
We require at least 8 participants in a group to lead a cleanup for you. If your group has less than eight people, people you can use our Digital Cleanup Kit to lead your own cleanup. We bring most of the supplies and the know-how, and we meet your group at the beach to clean with you! Private cleanups include a brief introduction to local marine debris issues and last 2 hours.
Learn more and fill out our Cleanup Request Form to get started.
Join a Public Beach Cleanup
Anyone and everyone is welcome to join a public cleanup! Check out our Public Cleanup Bulletin to find an upcoming public cleanup. All you need to do is register and show up with your gloves, and you’re ready to clean the beach! You can bring the whole family!
Conduct your own Cleanup!
Clean the beach with your family, friends, and community, or on your own! Head to your local beach, river, creek, park, or parking lot. All moving water eventually reaches the ocean, and every piece of litter properly disposed of makes the ocean a safer, healthier home for marine life! Download our Digital Beach Cleanup Kit, a guide with a supply list, safety precautions, and tips and tricks for a successful, sustainable cleanup! You can also borrow a physical cleanup kit from our office in Portsmouth or Discovery Center in Hampton to be provided with all the supplies needed to conduct a cleanup!
Adopt a Beach
Are you looking for a long-term opportunity to serve our oceans? You can adopt a beach through us at Blue Ocean Society and clean it monthly while providing us with valuable data! By adopting a beach, you commit to cleaning a beach once a month for twelve consecutive months, excluding months with extreme weather. We give you all the supplies needed to conduct these cleanups successfully.
What to Expect
We provide all necessary supplies except for gloves. We ask that you bring reusable gloves, like gardening, thin winter, or work gloves, as we try to avoid single-use plastic. You will sign in with the Blue Ocean Society cleanup leader upon arrival. The group will be divided into smaller teams of 4-6 individuals, each equipped with a clipboard to track data and a bag for collecting debris.
As you embark on the cleanup, your group will tally each piece of debris picked up from the beach, putting it into the correct material category on the datasheet. The data collected during Blue Ocean Society beach cleanups contributes significantly to marine debris research. After the cleanup, all participants will gather for a group photo and collectively weigh the debris collected.
We recommend you wear layers and comfortable shoes, as coastal temperatures can be 10-15 degrees cooler than inland areas. Most beach cleanups primarily involve collecting small items, such as cigarette butts and fragments, as these can otherwise be washed back out to sea during high tide. The importance lies in preventing these small pieces from floating worldwide through ocean currents and interacting with marine life.
Participating in beach cleanups serves the environment and has broader positive impacts on people, animals, the tourism industry, and the economy. Your contribution will play a crucial role in preserving the beauty of our beaches and protecting marine ecosystems!
Contact Us
Do you have any questions or know of a beach that may need cleaning? Contact Nikki Tenaglia at nikki@blueoceansociety.org!