The Virginia Waterways Cleanup --

Part of the International Coastal Cleanup

Sign up now to be a Site Captain for a 2008 cleanup event where you live! Fill out a Sign Up Form, and order supplies for your cleanup event. Be a leader in making your local waterways cleaner and healthier!

The 2008 Cleanup Sites will be posted here in early July -- please check back! Click here for a list of 2007 Cleanup Events

  

 

 

About the VA Waterways Cleanup / International Coastal Cleanup in VA

Every September and October, volunteers across Virginia from the mountains to the oceans gather along the shorelines of rivers, lakes, ponds and bays to pick up trash as part of the Virginia Waterways Cleanup Day (part of the International Coastal Cleanup). They also complete "International Coastal Cleanup Data Cards" from the Ocean Conservancy, helping to collect valuable information about the amounts, types and sources of debris found along Virginia's waterways. CVW's cleanup events educate the public on issues of freshwater and marine pollution, especially the preventable problem of litter.

Note: The official date for the International Coastal Cleanup is the third Saturday in September. Here in Virginia, cleanup coordinators can select any date in September or October that best fits their schedule.

The International Coastal Cleanup is active in most states, and in 100 countries. As volunteers in Virginia are bagging trash and filling out data cards, more than 350,000 people worldwide are doing the same!

Ocean Conservancy compiles the data received from sites around the world, and prepares a summary report to be used by citizens and policy makers in evaluating our progress in dealing with this serious form of pollution.

The International Coastal Cleanup is the world's largest volunteer data collection effort devoted to the marine environment. Volunteer at your local "Virginia Waterways Cleanup" site and be part of the International Coastal Cleanup (see list of sites) or… Volunteer to be a Site Captain if your county needs a cleanup site. Click here for a Sign Up Form that you can print out. Learn about being a Site Captain.

 

ABOVE: Volunteers review their "International Coastal Cleanup Data Card" from The Ocean Conservancy, before turning it in to the Site Captain. All Data Cards in Virginia are sent to Clean Virginia Waterways, which compiles them and forwards them to The Ocean Conservancy for analysis.
     

Clean Virginia Waterways

2008 is CVW's 14th year of organizing the Virginia Waterways Cleanup Day. It is supported by hundreds of schools, businesses and civic groups across the state. Click here for a list of ICC supporters.

Funding and in-kind support for the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia is provided by Philip Morris USA, Longwood University, The Ocean Conservancy, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Coastal Programs, Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, Bluefish Graphic Design, and individual donors.

Learn More

Top Ten trash items found in Virginia's waterways (data collected by volunteers)

History of ICC in Virginia -- People, Pounds and Miles

How to be a Site Captain - Sign up today!

Frequently Asked Questions about the ICC

   To learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities, send your email address to Clean Virginia Waterways.

More about litter and debris:

  Litter and Debris in our Waterways - Impacts, Sources and Solutions Page   What Volunteers Found in Virginia's Waterways--Data from past International Coastal Cleanups
  Litter Prevention Page   How Data from the ICC are used
  Impacts of aquatic debris   The International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia
  Article about Aquatic Litter and Debris (written by CVW for school teachers and others)   Solutions
  Cigarette Butt Litter—A Special Problem   Balloons as litter—A Special Problem

Underwater Cleanups Too!

Learn about underwater cleanup events in Virginia for SCUBA divers. Working with our partner, Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), several underwater cleanups are conducted every year in Virginia. Underwater Cleanups are organized by Project AWARE (a project of PADI).

If you live outside Virginia...You might want to take part in the International Coastal Cleanup in your state or country. In the U.S., call 1-800-262-BEACH for more information, or see Ocean Conservancy's ICC web site for contacts in your area.

 
Boy Scouts in Alexandria, Virginia show all the recyclable items they found during the International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia. Photo by Judy Tucker.

UPCOMING EVENTS
The International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia

This happy volunteer (with Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment) helped clean the Chain Bridge area in Arlington, Virginia during the Virginia Waterways Cleanup Day.

How to be a Site Captain

Return to Clean Virginia Waterways' Home Page

Compiled by Clean Virginia Waterways, Longwood University, Farmville, VA 23909
434-395-2602 Fax: 434-395-2825 Email: cleanva@longwood.edu