While we love all our programs, beach cleanups are one program we’d love to be able to stop. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was no trash to clean up?
However, cleanups seem to be needed now more than ever. We tabulated our results for cleanups just in New Hampshire in 2018 and the results are pretty astonishing:
- We conducted more than 195 cleanups with volunteers, who dedicated more than 4,000 hours to cleaning NH beaches
- Over 10,457 pounds of litter were removed
- Volunteers picked up and recorded more than 127,000 litter items!
Top Litter Items
Curious about the top litter items? Below are the top 10. You can find the full list on our fact sheet here.
| Item | Number | |
| 1 | Cigarette Butts | 32,958 |
| 2 | Rope | 11,419 |
| 3 | Plastic Pieces <2.5 cm | 10,607 |
| 4 | Foam Pieces <2.5 cm | 8,389 |
| 5 | Wrappers | 8,049 |
| 6 | Other Plastic >10 cm | 7,263 |
| 7 | Other Items | 6,711 |
| 8 | Plastic Bottle Caps | 3,841 |
| 9 | Fishing Buoys, Traps, Nets/Bait Bags | 3,743 |
| 10 | Lobster Bands | 2,772 |
Note: lobster gear was not removed due to NH State laws.
A lot of the items were single-use items or associated with the breakdown of plastics. There continues to be a need for education about the impacts of litter on the environment.
Thank You, Volunteers!
Our cleanups wouldn’t be possible without our volunteers. The dollar value of the hours donated in 2018 is more than $143,000! We greatly appreciate the help from our Adopt-a-Beach groups (listed below), along with all the companies, schools, organizations and individuals that help keep our local beaches clean through our public and group cleanups. Thank you!!
2018 Adopt a Beach Groups
| Group Name | Beach Adopted | Location |
| Robyn Sealock/Stephanie Burrows | Bass Beach | Rye, NH |
| Jenna Waite | Cable Beach | Rye, NH |
| Beth Hirt | Eliot Boat Basin | Eliot, ME |
| NH Coastal Program | Fabyan’s Point, Great Bay | Newington, NH |
| Portsmouth High School Peer Leadership | Drowned Forest at Odiorne Point | Rye, NH |
| Linda Rickenbach | Hampton Beach, Sec. A | Hampton, NH |
| Daniel’s Landing | Hampton Beach, Sec. D | Hampton, NH |
| UNH Sigma Chi | Hampton Beach, Sec. E | Hampton, NH |
| Chucky’s Fight | Hampton River Bridge | Hampton, NH |
| GBCC STEM Club | Hilton Park | Dover, NH |
| Blue Ocean Society | Jenness Beach | Rye, NH |
| Max Ronner-Bland & Friends | North Beach, South Section | Hampton, NH |
| Seaboard Paddleboard Club | Pirate’s Cove | Rye, NH |
| Klone Labs | Salisbury Beach, Sec. B (summer only) | Salisbury, MA |
| Rye Girl Scouts | Sawyer’s Beach | Rye, NH |
| George W. Hall | Scammell Bridge and Goat Island | Durham and Newington, NH |
| F.U.U.S.E. Green Sanctuary Committee | Seabrook Section A | Seabrook, NH |
| Crazy Eights Family | Short Sands | York, ME |
| Global Aquaculture Alliance | South Mill Pond | Portsmouth, NH |
| Club Finz | Wallis Sands | Rye, NH |
Cleanup Sponsors and Partners
The cleanups were funded, in part, by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act in conjunction with the NH Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program. Other major sponsors included Liberty Mutual, Altria Client Services, Aquaculture Education and Research Center and Optima Bank.
Learn More:
Image: Cleanup at Jenness Beach, May 2018
