Washington Coastsavers – A Vital Link to a Clean Washington Coast!

In recognition of this month’s 40th Annual Earth Day Celebration, local volunteers all along the Washington Coast will be joining forces with Washington Coastsavers to help clean up our beautiful Washington coast. A program under the Washington Clean Coast Alliance made up of nonprofits, community groups, and government agencies, Coastsavers originated to help coordinate the efforts of the many volunteer groups and individuals that have been working to clean up Washington's Pacific Coast from as far back as 1971. The Alliance and Coastsavers were both formed in 2007 and many years prior in April 2000 it was an environmental enthusiast named Jan Klippert that founded an Earth Day clean up for Washington's north coast. Called the Olympic Coast Cleanup, Klippert received help from the Olympic National Park, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Surfrider Foundation, and several tribal groups to create the annual Earth Day clean up, which since has evolved into a coastal wide effort involving thousands of volunteers.

Coastsavers’ mission is to not only align the efforts of these numerous volunteers but they also work to educate concerned citizens about ways to combat marine debris. Through beach clean ups and outreach to local communities they strive to educate the public about the importance of preserving and restoring our state’s diverse marine ecosystems. 

Last year's clean ups drew nearly 3000 volunteers from north to south, removing over 64 tons of marine debris from our coast. This included over 128,000 pounds of consumer plastics, lost fishing gear, and other debris that if left untouched would be accumulating in our ocean and on our beaches year after year harming fish, wildlife, and our delicate marine habitats. Marine debris is a serious threat to our delicate coastal ecosystems. Birds, fish, and plant life are all harmed and plastic in particular has the ability to spread toxins at an alarming rate, which in turn wreaks havoc on marine ecosystems.

Coastsavers alliance of partners include Long Beach Peninsula’s Grass Roots Garbage Gang, the Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association, Surfrider Foundation, Washington Parks and Recreation, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Olympic National Park, and Discover Your Northwest. These groups and the thousands of volunteers who help out each year at these clean ups are a vital link to keeping the Washington coast clean and beautiful. 

A special thanks to the many volunteers and Alliance partners who will be taking part in this year’s annual clean ups. For more information about the dangers of marine debris and to sign up to volunteer on April 17th at a beach near you visit http://www.coastsavers.org/index.html or call David Lindau with Washington CoastSavers at (206) 220-4279.