Billboard Magazine just published a great article on Ultra Music Festivals Sustainability Program and included us.!. When we first engaged with Ultra 5 years ago, we wanted them to make some major changes, but our goal was not to make anyone cry.!.

Here’s how the article starts:

In 2019, Ultra Music Festival sustainability director Vivian Belzaguy Hunter sat at her desk and cried.⁠
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These tears were, in fact, joyful. Belzaguy Hunter had just learned that Ultra had gotten a glowing review from VolunteerCleanup.Org, a local environmental organization.⁠ In the report, reps from VolunteerCleanup.Org wrote that the fest “did an excellent job in reducing their landfill waste, increasing the capture of recyclable materials and engaging the attendees to protect the bay and park.” For its sustainability efforts, Ultra 2019 was given an A grade.
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Since then, the fest’s sustainability program has prevented hundreds of thousands of pounds of waste from ending up in landfills and avoided the use of millions of single-use plastic items.⁠

READ THE BILLBOARD ARTICLE HERE

For years, the Biscayne Bay spoil islands were plagued by piles of trash left behind by recreational visitors. Advocates – including Urban Paradise Guild, VolunteerCleanup.Org and the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition pushed and worked with the City who decided to remove trash cans to reinforce the “pack it in, pack it out” principle, encouraging boaters to take their waste with them.

NOW WE HAVE A SURPRISING UPDATE…

Although the initiative faced some resistance early on—leading to a two-month closure of the islands last year—positive changes soon followed. The introduction of clear, bilingual signage played a key role in raising awareness. Today, the islands are cleaner than ever, thanks to the growing number of boaters committed to preserving this unique natural space.

Louis Aguirre recently highlighted the success of the City of Miami’s “Leave No Trace” policy in his Don’t Trash Our Treasure segment on Local 10 News. Watch the news segment here and leave a thumbs up.

Supply Grant Successes

During the first quarter of 2025, we launched our Supply Grant Program which equips organizers with essential materials—reusable gloves, garbage bags, water coolers, and educational debrief posters—along with best practices to ensure safe and effective cleanups.

The response to our first wave of grants was incredible! We exhausted our budgeted funds in just two weeks. Thanks to generous donations from the Surfing Evolution License Plate and Open Water’s 2025 Sea Change Grant, we were able to award a second round of supply grants. To date, we’ve provided supplies to support over 25 organizations across Florida and beyond! In the first month, we had 30 new cleanups led by these organizers.!. 

We do this because we believe that cleanups can provide a meaningful, eye-opening experience, and when paired with educational content, can drive lasting change in reducing single-use plastics. Our investment in local leaders is designed to help build strong, grassroots communities that take care of their own neighborhoods and shorelines.

APPLY FOR A SUPPLY GRANT: Although new grant awards are currently on pause, you can still apply! Submitting your application now ensures you’ll be in line when additional funding becomes available.

CAN YOU HELP SUPPORT OUR PROGRAM?: Due to this overwhelming demand, we are actively seeking sponsors to help sustain and expand this program. If you or your company would like to help fund our Supply Grant program, contact us here.

Supply Grant Sponsors

Supply Grant Winners

Thanks to the thousands of phone calls / emails, as well as active lobbying in Tallahassee by VolunteerCleanup.Org, Oceana, Clean Miami Beach and other partner organizations, we defeated Senate Bill 1822 / HB 1609 “Regulation of Auxiliary Containers” by Senator Jonathan Martin (R-Lee County)!

SB 1822 and HB 1609 would have taken away local governments’ home rule and ability to regulate any single-use or reusable cup, bottle, bag, or other packaging designed for transporting, consuming, or protecting merchandise, food, or beverages from a retail or food establishment – like we do on beaches around the state. It would also have eliminated existing rules against single-use plastics in State Parks like Ichetucknee Springs State Park, Rainbow Springs State Park, and Weeki Wachee Springs. Louis Aguirre from Local10 News did a great news segment on it – watch here. It’s bad enough that Tallahassee won’t take action against plastic pollution, but they don’t want us to do it either.

You can watch our video that we made to thank the hero of the day (who sacrificed her bill for us) – House Rep Meg Weinberger. We also want to thank Senator Carlos Smith, Senator Jason Pizzo, Senator Ileana Garcia, Senator Shevrin Jones, House Rep Alex Rizo, House Rep Robin Bartleman, House Rep Fabian Basabe, House Rep Anna Eskamani, and House Rep Marie P. Woodson for their support and advocacy.

Unfortunately, we expect we will have to fight this again next year. 😕

Our TRASHATHON Fundraiser Cleanup successfully raised over $9,000 for Biscayne National Park AND removed 2,135 pounds of debris.

12 of us decided to raise money for Biscayne National Park and collected per-pound pledges for us to do a cleanup. On cleanup day, we went by Biscayne National Park boats to the uninhabited and unvisited east side (gulf stream side) of Rhodes Key, which is on the south part of the National Park. When we got there, we were overwhelmed by the vast amounts of debris, and it was difficult to know where to start, so we split into smaller teams and got to work.

In just 4 hours, we were able to collect a ridiculous ** 2,135 pounds ** of debris, consisting of single-use consumer goods like plastic bottles, but also a surprising amount of derelict fishing gear like trap lines that were wrapped around trees. We even found a makeshift wood framed raft that had huge blocks of foam that we think someone tried to float over on. Much of the material we collected didn’t appear to originate from South Florida, instead washing ashore from the oceans – originating from the Caribbean, South/Central America, ocean fishing / transport and even material from the West Coast of Africa.!. It has never more clear that our marine debris crisis is a worldwide problem that is going to take local, state, US *and* international collaboration to address.

We are grateful to all of our per-pledge donors for helping us raise over $9,000 to support ongoing Marine Debris Cleanup efforts for Biscayne National Park. We sent the money to the Alliance for Florida’s National Parks (the official non-profit partner of Biscayne National Park) so they can allocate it accordingly.

We want to thank Vanessa from Biscayne National Park who led our event and took us to ‘the thick’ we asked for. We also want to thank The Brady Hunter Foundation who not only made a very significant donation, but sent a crew to help us unload the boats, weight and cart away the trash.

THE CREW:
Frank ‘Mangrove Sasquatch’ Reyes – Mangrove Sasquatch (brought us all together and planned the event)
Manny Rionda – Fill A Bag
MJ Algarra- Clean This Beach Up
Desiree DiClemente DiSalvo – Sun of a Beach
Dave Doebler – VolunteerCleanup.Org
Theo Queene – Send it 4 the Sea
Andrew Otazo – hardcore cleanup bada$$
Mario Wood – MAST Academy
Suzy Pappas – Coastal Cleanup Corp
George Pappas – Coastal Cleanup Corp
Aabad Melwani – Rickenbacker Marina
Lulu Vilas – Alliance for Florida National Parks

WATCH THE EVENT ON LOCAL10 NEWS: Louis Aguirre from Local 10 News came along with us to help remove the debris and document the day. We encourage you to watch this segment as well as set your DVR to record his show every week where he reports on a variety of local environmental issues. His work plays a vital role in highlighting the issues and work being done right here in our back yard.

🌟Major Legislative Win !! 🌟

Yesterday, Miami-Dade County officially voted to Direct Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to eliminate single-use plastics and polystyrene in future contracts with concessionaires on county property and at all county-run concessions! 🌍✨. The biggest impact will be at Miami International Airport (the busiest U.S. gateway for international passengers, the busiest international cargo airport in the U.S., Florida’s busiest airport, and the 10th busiest airport in the U.S. with over 17 MILLION passengers) and PortMIAMI (the largest passenger cruise port in the world and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States). Our guests and visitors will see that Miami is a world-class city committed to protecting our oceans and waterways from the scourage of marine debris.

VolunteerCleanup.Org worked with Commissioner Eileen Higgins behind the scenes to create news stories (5 minute feature on WPLG Local 10 News and Louis Aguirre, and a front page story in the Miami Herald), direct outreach to other commissioners and worked with other non-profits to rally the community resulting in 18,000 petitions and 100+ phone calls.

Read the legislation here, Watch the TV News Segment and Read the FRONT PAGE ARTICLE from the Miami Herald below.!.

Reasons to Support us on Give Miami Day

Give Miami Day giving period has started! Here at VolunteerCleanup.org, we LOVE picking up trash and doing our mission-oriented work, but asking for money, well…..not so much!  That’s why GMD is the ONLY time we actively fundraise and ask for donations from the community. This newsletter is shamelessly dedicated to asking for your support, and also sharing our significant accomplishments over the past year.

Give Miami Day on Thursday, November 21st, is hosted by The Miami Foundation, this annual event fuels the work of over 1,000 local nonprofits – including VolunteerCleanup.Org – helping to build a stronger, more vibrant Miami. To give now, go here:  https://www.givemiamiday.org/organization/volunteercleanup

In addition to the Miami Foundation matching $25 of every donation, we have a generous donor who is going to match your donation (up to a total of $20,000).!.

WHAT HAVE WE ACCOMPLISHED OVER SINCE LAST GMD?

At VolunteerCleanup.org, we are laser-focused on the plastic pollution crisis in our oceans. We believe everyone has a role to play and that the solution is a shared responsibility across individuals, businesses, and government. Here’s how we’ve created change across these key groups:

Individual

• International Coastal Cleanup Miami-Dade in September was bigger and better than ever. We had a remarkable 3,615 volunteers show up to protect our planet, collecting a mind-blowing 25,082 pounds of trash at 71 cleanup sites across Miami-Dade County. This cleanup marks our biggest achievement yet, and it’s extra special as we celebrate our 10th anniversary of hosting International Coastal Cleanup for Miami-Dade!! If that weren’t enough, the Ocean Conservancy told us that our event is the 3rd largest county program in the Country – just after LA and San Francisco!! See all the results and some really great TV segments here.
• We continue to demonstrate that cleanups do indeed provide an eye-opening experience that inspires people to change their personal behaviors. Check out the results of our post-ICC volunteer survey here.
• In the past year alone, 636 cleanups have been coordinated through our web platform, with over 10,000 volunteers collecting an estimated 127,000 pounds of trash. We are investing in the community, and new leaders and volunteers are joining the mission every single weekend. With new funds, we plan to start a ‘Supply Grant’ to outfit new cleanup organizers with the tools they need to lead effective and educational cleanups.
• We are now a Leave No Trace community partner, actively working to educate people about the 7 principles of enjoying nature responsibly, especially as it pertains to islands of Biscayne Bay. Learn more about the Leave No Trace principals here.
• We are working to get the final 700 Biscayne Bay License Plates assigned to cars to reach the 3,000 required before they start printing them. Our friends at the Brady Hunter Foundation paid for all of them, so they are FREE for you to put on your car, truck or trailer.!. This is a top priority for us to accomplish by the end of the year, we’d love if you’d get yours here, or send the link to a friend who loves the Bay.

Business

• This year, we’ve hosted 30 companies for our signature Corporate Day of Service cleanups, with each team committing to meaningful personal and business changes. Originally launched as a fundraising initiative, the program quickly evolved as we recognized the power of bringing entire teams on-site to see the problem firsthand. At the end of each event, we hold a conversation to discuss the realities of the issue and brainstorm solutions on how their business can reduce the amount of plastics they put out into the world. With half of our partners returning for repeat events, the value and impact of this work speak for themselves. If your company would like to have a service day, check out your options here.
• We launched our Recycle Bin rental program for festivals and special events with a generous grant from the City of Miami Beach. Recycling is not THE only answer, but will play an important role in creating a circular economy, and large events have a great opportunity to collect maximum amounts of aluminum cans for minimal effort. Are you involved with an event? We’d love for you to use our Recycle Bins.

Government

• Dave is Co-Chair of the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition, and VolunteerCleanup.Org is the fiscal agent. On May 20, 2024, we held the 5th bi-annual Biscayne Bay Marine Health Summit at Jungle Island and hosted over 500 attendees representing a wonderful cross-section of interests and expertise, from government and business to science, academia, and community/non-profits. These summits are a driving force behind the current Bay protection and restoration efforts. All the sessions are available for you to watch free here.
• Dave LOVES doing policy work through his work as Chair of the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition and on his board seat on the County’s Biscayne Bay Watershed Management Advisory Board, He – in partnership with other allies and non-profits – has had some incredible wins since last GMD including:
  • WIN: Enhanced State Stormwater Permit requirements that increases the requirements for design and maintenance of municipal stormwater systems to address plastics and trash that flow through our storm drains all over Florida.
  • WIN: New County Water Quality rules that now require cities to design and maintain their stormwater systems so that ZERO TRASH be allowed to exit into waterways. We’ve been chasing this massive policy win since 2016!
  • WIN: County ordinance to eliminate the distribution of single-use plastics and polystyrene in all future County contracts with concessionaires doing business on County property
  • IN-PROGRESS: Take a look at your recycling bins. Chances are, your bins and dumpsters are not properly labeled on what should be going in the bins, which is causing an almost a 50% contamination rate. Dave has been getting legislation pushed through various municipalities to require effective labeling on recycle bins, and promoting a really good label design from https://www.recycleacrossamerica.org/.

To give now, go here:  https://www.givemiamiday.org/organization/volunteercleanup

We are now a “Leave No Trace” Community Partner

We cannot clean our way out of this marine debris mess, and instead we must turn off the tap of single-us plastics entering our waterways. We want everyone to explore and fall in love with nature, because nature is immensely healing to the human spirit, and we believe that people will protect what they love.

VolunteerCleanup.Org is excited to join on as a Leave No Trace Community Partner and bring their 7 Principles for responsibly enjoying nature to Miami. Leave No Trace is a 501c3 non-profit organization providing education, training and outreach in all 50 states and more than 100 countries around the globe. Utilizing the power of science, education for all, and stewardship to support and protect nature, Leave No Trace is on a mission to ensure a sustainable future for the outdoors and the planet.

You can learn more and take their Leave No Trace 101 training which will help you understand and share the actions we can collectively take to protect our planet. In this course they share helpful information with a simple framework of minimum impact practices to apply when spending time outdoors. Learn more at https://www.LNT.org.