For 34 years, groups and individuals across the Alabama Gulf Coast have been coming together one day a year to clean up our waterways and shorelines. It’s the Alabama Coastal Cleanup, and the 34th annual event is set for Saturday, Sept. 18.
“We are looking forward to a large, coast-wide event. It’s a great way to get outside and do something positive that benefits everyone,” said Spencer Ryan, Executive Director for Alabama People Against a Littered State (PALS). Working with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Coastal Section (ADCNR) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the three organizations pull off the largest one-day volunteer event in Alabama.
The Alabama Coastal Cleanup is the state’s largest annual volunteer event. In addition to shorelines, participants can help clean up neighborhoods, local parks, streets and storm drains where trash finds its way to the bays and rivers, and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.
Volunteers are needed on foot and on the water, at cleanup sites in Mobile and Baldwin counties. All participants will receive a t-shirt and basic cleanup supplies.
“There is really no better way to help the Gulf and our local communities than a morning cleaning up our shorelines,” ADCNR’s Angela Underwood said. “We have always had a great turnout for the Coastal Cleanup, and that says a lot about the people here and their desire to help keeps our waterways and beaches clear of trash.”
Stay up to date with the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaCoastalCleanup/ or website https://alabamacoastalcleanup.com/.
For more information or to contact a cleanup site zone captain with participation questions, visit www.AlabamaCoastalCleanup.com or call (251) 621-1216.
The Alabama Coastal Cleanup is made possible by the generosity of many, including 2021 returning Title Sponsor—the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Other sponsors and volunteer organizations include Sea Turtle Sponsors – Ike’s Beach Service | Bebo’s; Dune Sponsors – Coastal Conservation Association of Alabama (CCAA) | Alabama Power | Lulu’s | City of Gulf Shores | City of Orange Beach | Riveria Utilities | Flora-Bama | Evonik | Compass Media | Coast 360 | Holcim | The Home Depot | Airbus; Seagull Sponsors – Baldwin County Sewer Service | Baldwin EMC | MESC /Dauphin Island Sea Lab; PALS Sponsors – ALDOT | ALFA | Coca Cola | Vulcan Materials | Honda Manufacturing of Alabama | Alabama Farmers’ Cooperative | Association of County Commissions of Alabama; and In-Kind Sponsors – The Ocean Conservancy | Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Tourism | Osprey Initiative | Thompson Engineering | SALT | Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve | Paddle the Gulf
The Alabama Coastal Cleanup is part of the International Coastal Cleanup, an international effort to remove marine debris from coastal waters. Alabama joined this effort in 1987. The International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is the largest single-day volunteer event for the marine environment.
This interview and story originally appeared on WALA FOX10 News by Chelsey Sayasane. You can view the original story here.
