🌊 Coastal Cleanup Day 2024

Today, ecology is really an issue. The higher industry develops the more damage it causes to the nature and the world around us.

To raise awareness of the problems that threaten the environment and to make people more conscious of the aftermaths of their activities, there have been several holidays created. The one we’re going to initiate you into is about the oceans and what the human is doing to them.

So, when is National Costal Cleanup Day in 2024? Read attentively!

History

What do you know about the largest body of water on the globe – the World Ocean? Except for the fact that it includes four existent oceans – the Pacific, the Indian, the Atlantic and the Arctic – hardly anyone could answer other questions. For example, when exactly it was formed.

The scientists assume that the ocean emerged around three billion years ago as a consequence of the degassing of magma and the condensation of the water vapors. The majority of the basins that we’re witnessing nowadays were formed during the last two hundred and fifty million years as a result of the split of the supercontinent and separation of the lithospheric plates. The Pacific Ocean is a bit different: it is a remainder of the first ancient water body.

The water on our planet is much older than us. Yet only when the human came into this world the oceans started to “suffer”. In 1984, the woman from Oregon, the US, got appalled at the amount of the trash that floated in the Pacific and was cast ashore. Moreover, all the pieces were definitely of the human activity origin. She was initiative enough to gather the group of volunteers and stage the public campaign aimed at cleaning up the coastline of the state.

Setting the example for the whole world, Judy Neilson was the first who brought up the issue of the marine debris. Next year, the state of California supported this deserving respect event and proclaimed the henceforth annual tradition of keeping the waterways free from the litter. The international spread of the holiday was quick to follow especially after the US environmental organization, striving for the oceans conservation, set aside the date for the common campaign held countrywide in 1986.

Today, it involves around eight hundred thousands of volunteers who walk over the twenty-five thousands of mile picking up eighteen million pounds of the trash. Actually, the number of supporters of this ecological event is the largest among all other similar actions. However, it’s not enough to overcome the disastrous effect of the man’s actions. And we should know why, before giving the answer on when is International Coastal Cleanup Day 2024.

Meaning

What does Coastal Cleanup Day mean? It is meant to be the worldwide initiative challenging the neglect of the ocean and the marine life, aiming at opening people’s eyes to the downward situation and uniting their efforts to save the waterways.

What damage does the thrash cause? Not only does it spoil the amazing sceneries of the shorelines, it also affects the underwater inhabitants. Most of it is not thrown out on the coasts but remains in the water and piles up on the ocean floor at the large depths.

Floating on the surface, the litter blocks the sunlight. It is quite dangerous for the lives of the plankton and the seaweeds that play an important biological role in the food chain. Being the food for the others marine creatures, its extinction may entail the dying out of the species including those that we consume. The plastic – the biggest disaster of the marine debris – is detrimental to the oceans because it doesn’t dissociate for long as it’s covered with the seaweeds and cools. All sorts of the trash are eaten by the creatures hurting them a lot. It gets stuck in their stomachs and the specimen dies from hunger. It makes them caught in the nets and packing firmly, pierces them with the straws.

There are so much of the threats that the simple action of throwing the can on the beach brings that we don’t even think of! To reverse the current order, we are ought to always consider the consequences of our acts, no matter what day Coastal Cleanup Day in 2024 falls on.

Definition

If you’re sure that the trash in the seas is produced by the humans who are somehow connected to the navigation, then you’re absolutely wrong. 80% of the pollution is due to the waste from the ground sources – for example, from the tourists who prefer to relax on the beaches yet do not like to clean up after themselves. The bottles, cups, caps and the plastic bags and packages, all these are quick to get into the water and settle on the bottom. The other 20% is brought from the ships – the litter from the decks, the fishnets, the thrown out or lost transport containers. Due to the wind and the sea currents, it drifts on the surface and spreads to the largest distances.

As we’ve already mentioned, there are dozens of the sorts of the trash. The plastic and all of its derivatives (the disposables, beverage bottles, cigarettes, wrappers), the glass, the medical, farming and industrial wastes, the fishing tackles, the litter from the vessels and the sewage, the oil products, and radioactive materials. Once there was a piano found!

Besides, there is such a phenomenon as the garbage patch. It is the huge concentration of the debris emerged as a result of the human activity that drifts and travels all over the oceans. It is formed by the sea flows and wind that twirl it into the whirlwind and drag into the single patch. The biggest one is located in the Pacific Ocean and causes the alarm of the scientific community.

How the marine debris harms the mankind? The pollution leads to the extinction of the myriads of the inhabitants that exist under the water column, to the acidification of the waterways and increasing toxicity. It gets stuck in the screws and keels of the ship causing lots of troubles to the seamen. Under the process of photodegradation, the plastic emits the dyes and chemicals in the water. It also saves up the toxins in its microbeads that the marine creatures consume mistaking them for food. Accumulating in their bodies, it brings the genetic problems and poisoning. Point by point, it gets into the human body. Don’t be horrified too much but the scientists proved that the plastic is present in our organisms.

What is the date of Coastal Cleanup Day 2024? It’s set on September 19.

Traditions

Harnessing the gifts of the oceans, we have to ponder over this burning issue and find (and perform) solution together.

First of all, all people are ought to follow the simple rules that will help conserve the oceans and keep them debris free. Do not litter. Carry the can right to the trash bin; throw the cigarette butts into the bin; do not unpack your long-awaited parcel right on the street letting the packing be taken away by the wind. On September 19, go to the nearest beach, talking some friends into joining you, and support the international campaign by getting on the rubber gloves and stocking up some trash bags. Reduce the use of the plastic (by giving up in as many areas as possible, or taking it to the waste recycling) and encourage all of your near and dear ones to do the same. Do not forget to clean up after yourself at the places of your relaxation.

When it comes to the financial issue, you can support your local ecological organization and make a donation. Only by mutual efforts we can save our planet and thank it for the wonders it bestowed us with.

International Coastal Cleanup Day Facts

• The scientists claim that by the middle of the 21st century, %99,9 of the sea birds will feed on the plastic. However, it’s within our power to change that.

Mark in your calendar, when is Coastal Cleanup Day 2024, and do your best to preserve the Earth and the oceans.