▶ 6-Pack Holders ▶ Bags (Paper) ▶ Bags (Plastic) ▶ Balloons ▶ Beverage Bottles ▶ Beverage Cans ▶ Buoys/Floats ▶ Caps, Lids ▶ Cigar Tips ▶ Cigarette Lighters ▶ Cigarettes/ Cigarette Filters ▶ Clothing, Shoes ▶ Crab/Lobster/ Fish Traps
▶ Fishing Hooks ▶ Fishing Line ▶ Fishing Lures/ Light Sticks ▶ Fishing Nets ▶ Food Wrappers/ Containers ▶ Plastic Sheeting/ Tarps ▶ Pull Tabs ▶ Rope ▶ Strapping Bands ▶ Straws, Stirrers ▶ Toothbrushes
Rank Debris Item
Number of Debris Items
Percentage of Total Debris Items
1
cigarettes/cigarette filters
1,892,526
19%
2
beverage bottles (plastic)
1,094,921
11%
3
bags (plastic)
980,067
10%
4
caps, lids
882,936
9%
5
food wrappers/containers
853,633
9%
6
cups, plates, forks, knives, spoons
524,853
5%
7
beverage bottles (glass)
440,756
4%
8
straws, stirrers
433,376
4%
9
beverage cans
429,167
4%
10
bags(paper)
300,031
3%
top ten total debris items
7,825,730
79%
total debris items worldwide
9,843,121
100%
Inland Counts
Boaters and Divers
In 2010, 487,000 volunteers scoured ocean shorelines around the world, while more than 127,000 participants worked inland. Although 77 percent of all debris items were collected from coastal shorelines, almost 60 percent of all Cleanups took place at inland sites in 2010, compared to only 40 percent the previous year. This shift demonstrates an increased awareness regarding the proliferation of marine debris as a serious threat not only to our oceans, but to our inland streams, rivers, and lakes.
Participating boaters used watercraft, including powerboats, sailboats, kayaks, and rafts to reach areas others couldn’t; 6,360 boaters picked up 162,498 pounds. And 8,620 scuba divers (organized by Project AWARE Foundation) used their expertise to gather and categorize 251,845 pounds of everything from tires to tin cans from below the water’s surface. While the items on the top ten list for 2010 are nearly the same as the 25-year list (see page 25), they fall in different order. For both, cigarettes and cigarette filters were the most prevalent; volunteers removed nearly 1.9 million from waterways and beaches in 2010. Plastic beverage bottles came in at number two (1,094,921) in 2010, and plastic bags placed third (980,067). Nine of the top ten items are disposable consumer goods.
WILDLIFE
Source: Ocean Conservancy/International Coastal Cleanup/2010
34
Ocean Conservancy surveyed the scientific literature to identify items shown to choke or entangle wildlife. They include:
2010 Entangled Wildlife Found Amphibians
Birds
Corals/ Sponges
Fish
Invertebrates
Mammals
Reptiles
Total
beverage bottles
1
0
0
2
17
0
1
21
beverage cans
0
0
0
1
5
0
0
6
crab/lobster/fish traps
0
2
0
3
22
0
1
28
fishing hooks
1
5
0
4
0
0
1
11
fishing line
2
46
6
66
17
4
7
148
fishing nets
0
7
1
48
52
8
15
131
bags (plastic)
4
7
0
44
19
2
0
76
ribbon/string
0
5
0
1
2
0
0
8
rope
0
7
0
27
3
3
0
40
6-pack holders
0
3
0
1
1
0
1
6
wire
0
5
0
3
2
0
3
13
total
8
87
7
200
140
17
29
488
usa
Items of Special Interest Volunteers also note items of local concern that may highlight problems like dumping or sewage disposal issues. At Long Beach in Puerto Galera in the Philippines, volunteers picked up 1,548 slippers and 792 ice chests in 2010, possibly lost at sea by container ships. Volunteers picking up and tallying trash and other debris often encounter wildlife, dead and alive, entangled in things like ropes or old fishing line. In 2010 they found 488 birds, fish, and animals. Among the 17 mammals were a bottlenose dolphin and a harbor seal. Fishing line and fishing nets were the most prevalent types of entangling debris (57 percent).
The data card process makes the Cleanup different from any other cleanup campaign. ” terry raymond, dominica coordinator (dominica youth environment organisation)
puerto rico
Source: Ocean Conservancy/International Coastal Cleanup/2010
2010 Top Ten Items
Hazards
35