Cleaning Up the Caribbean

Posted Wed, 02/17/2016 - 12:20

The Caribbean is a beautiful part of the world, with inviting waters and soft sands… but unfortunately, it is not immune to marine debris. To address marine debris in the Caribbean region, the NOAA Marine Debris Program supports various removal and prevention efforts that work to combat it.

In northeast Puerto Rico, we team up with Scuba Dogs Society to remove debris from local shores and install recycling stations that give beachgoers a place to easily sort and dispose of their recyclables.

A "recycling station" with four recycling bins on the beach.
A recycling station, set up on the beach as part of the Scuba Dogs Society project. (Photo Credit: NOAA)

Move to the southwest and we work with Protectores de Cuencas on the “Think Before You Drop It” campaign, where research conducted during several beach cleanup events helps to drive a local debris reduction campaign.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, we partner with the Coral Bay Community Council to remove abandoned and derelict vessels from Coral Harbor, St. John.

Together, let’s keep this beautiful area beautiful!

Cleaning Up the Caribbean

Posted Wed, 02/17/2016 - 12:20

For citation purposes, unless otherwise noted, this article was authored by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

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Alicia Mae Jacobacci

Fri, 04/26/2019 - 13:14

I recently have seen newsletters of the devastating amount of plastic floating around in the Caribbean. I would love to become a member of the clean up team. If you have any information please email me. Thank you.

Michael Ballantyne

Wed, 01/01/2020 - 23:56

How can I help clean up the beaches , is there a team leader or organization to organize time as needed ?

Hi Michael, thank you for asking!

There are a few ways to get involved in a beach cleanup. Here, on our How to Help page, there is information about hosting/coordinating your own cleanup (https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-issue/how-help). You can subscribe to our month E-Newsletter which includes cleanup information (https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/). And lastly, you can reach out to a Regional Coordinator and become more involved in regional activities and events (https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/your-region).