Miami-Dade SWAT Virginia Key Dog Beach | International Coastal Cleanup

SORRY THIS CLEANUP SITE IS FULL AT CAPACITY

It’s time for the 36th annual International Coastal Cleanup! Join us for the world's largest, one-day volunteer effort for our oceans and waterways, and show your commitment to reducing marine debris, along with millions of volunteers from across the globe!

Spearheaded globally by the Ocean Conservancy, VolunteerCleanup.org organizes Miami-Dade County’s local participation in this worldwide event with 45+ simultaneous shoreline cleanups around the county. The Miami-Dade ICC is made possible by the generous support of our tidal sponsor Covanta, with additional support from Banesco USA, Blackstone Charitable Foundation, Miami-Dade County RER-DERM, Pubbelly Sushi, WPLG Local 10, and with special thanks to the Benjamin & Gloria Joannou, Jr. Family Conservation Fund.

We will provide garbage bags, gloves, data collection cards, and a souvenir tote bag with this year’s marine animal theme, the Octopus! *Community Service hours will be provided*. This year's shirts are available for purchase here! 

Registration is required to participate. Where possible, please have guests in your party RSVP individually so we can ensure they get all information and details about the event and can accurately plan for turnout.

Details for this site:

• Parking Information: Parking at Virginia Key Dog Beach is free and available on a first come first serve basis. Site is across the street from MAST Academy.
• Check-in will be 8:45 am. All volunteers must check-in and have submitted a waiver.
• This event is suitable for all ages, but those under 14 years old should be accompanied by an adult.

Info for Volunteers:

• Dress for the weather and wear appropriate footwear. This is a beach site and you should wear appropriate footwear that you are comfortable walking on sand in.
• Sunglasses, hat, and sunscreen are recommended.
• If you have gloves, bring them. We will be providing gloves but cannot guarantee they will be in your size. We suggest reusable working, gardening, or dish gloves that you can pick up at the grocery/hardware store.
• Bring water in a reusable container. Let’s reduce waste and refuse single-use disposable plastic water bottles.
• A paper waiver for Miami-Dade county Parks will be required on the day of the event. ** However, if you are under 18 and coming without a parent or guardian, you must have a parent/guardian print and sign the waiver HERE in advance, and bring it with you to the cleanup. 
• Download the Ocean Conservancy’s CleanSwell app to participate in the Citizen Science activity to log, tally and measure the impact of your cleanup.  It is easier and more fun than using the paper data cards!

About International Coastal Cleanup:

Scientists estimate that more than 17 billion pounds of plastic enter our ocean every year threatening marine life from corals polyps to sharks, the health of people, and local economies.

Over the past 36 years, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup has brought together nearly 13 million people from over 150 countries to collect nearly 250 million pounds of trash along our coastlines and waterways. Every year during Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, volunteers comb lakes, rivers and beaches around the world for trash picking up everything imaginable along the world’s shorelines: cigarette butts, food wrappers, abandoned fishing gear and even automobiles and kitchen appliances.

By volunteering at ICC, you will be actively participating in a global citizen science project, not only by removing marine debris, but by also cataloguing and tallying what you find using the Ocean Conservancy’s data collection cards or Clean Swell app. The resulting item-by-item, location-by-location Ocean Trash Index that Ocean Conservancy compiles each year provides the only global snapshot of the marine debris littering coasts and waterways around the world.