Known as the ICC, the annual cleanup was first held in 1986 by the Ocean Conservancy to encourage volunteers to collect marine debris from the world’s waterways.
Today it is the world’s largest single-day cleanup event with the goal of collecting and documenting trash that litter coastlines and waterways, DCRM said.
Volunteers from states and territories throughout the United States and over 100 countries around the world come together annually to participate in the ICC events in their area.
Data collected during the ICC are entered into the Global Trash Database, a system that works to tackle world ocean pollution.
Participants in the ICC event in the CNMI will each adopt a location, and are asked to tally data while collecting debris.
Locations are granted on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Remnants of burnt trash litter the coastline near the Carolinian Utt in the early days of the government shutdown this year. Photo by K-Andrea Evarose S. Limol
Supplies can be provided by DCRM upon request from participants.
Trash hauling and disposal will be taken care of by DCRM and the Micronesia Islands Nature Alliance or MINA.
To sign up, visit the DCRM website at https://dcrm.gov.mp/our-programs/education-and-outreach/international-coastal-cleanup
For more information, contact the ICC coordinator for the CNMI, Charlotte Flores, at cflores@dcrm.gov.mp and/or 664-8300/8316.
DCRM, which also led the ICC last year, would like to thank the over 1,600 volunteers who participated during the 2019 ICC for doing their part to reduce ocean pollution.
In the CNMI, over 9,400 pounds of trash was collected from 76 locations during the 2019 ICC.
