#MiamiCleanup2024 Results - Bigger & Better Than Ever!

RESULTS ARE IN for the annual county-wide International Coastal Cleanup Miami-Dade last Saturday, September 21, 2024 where a remarkable 3,615 volunteers showed 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!!

While we organize Miami-Dade’s involvement in this annual global event, it is the network of organizations who lead the individual cleanups in the program that really help to make this event an incredible success. We are sending a huge shoutout to all the amazing Site Captains who led their teams with dedication. Your efforts were nothing short of heroic!

 

OUR SPONSORS – We would like to especially thank our sponsors who support this program with funding and sweat equity (they all came out to clean!). This event is made possible by the generous support of our presenting sponsor The Brady Hunter Foundation, with additional support from The Benjamin & Gloria Joannou, Jr. Family Conservation Fund, Blackstone Charitable FoundationCitadelRelated GroupCity of Miami BeachMiami-Dade County RER-DERMPricewaterhouseCoopers LLPMiami IronsideSave The ManateeWaste Management and Watersports Association.

International Coastal Cleanup Day Miami Dade 2024 Results

ICC 2024 IMPACT REPORT

At VolunteerCleanup.org, we know that cleanups are not the long-term solution to the marine debris problem. While counting the number of volunteers and pounds of trash removed are obvious metrics to indicate a successful ICC, we are mostly interested about the extent to which this educational experience inspires individual, business and government changes necessary to address the root causes of plastic in our oceans.

In an attempt to answer these questions, we survey ICC volunteers to better understand how the cleanup is impacting attitudes, mindsets and behavior. Here are some of the highlights from our survey to this year’s ICC participants:

  • We are reaching new people: 53% of respondents indicated that this was their FIRST time participating in a cleanup, so we know that we are NOT just preaching to the choir.
  • Miamians are concerned about plastic pollution: This was the single most important motivation driving volunteer participation, ahead of the warm fuzzies you get from volunteering or needing community service hours.
  • Cleanups, while not the answer to the plastic ocean crisis, are an important educational experience that are a catalyst for behavior change: As a result of participating in the cleanup 57% of respondents reported a notable increase in their knowledge about the topic.
  • Cleanups are a steppingstone to further action!: 91% felt inspired to take further action on this issue, 73% said they would join another cleanup and 61% committed to using less single use plastics!

By gosh, we are on to something! To view the impact report click on the image below

WE WERE ON TV 3 TIMES !!! We got some great press (even a live national interview!) ….. and a fantastic recap story on WPLG Local 10 News (Channel 10) with Louis Aguirre including video with volunteers from dozens of ICC cleanup sites. In case you haven’t done so already, set your DVR to record Louis’ ‘Don’t Trash Our Treasure‘ segment every Wednesday between 5-6pm. Louis is an absolute legend, amplifying the challenges, threats and recovery of our beautiful Biscayne Bay.

We love when reporters stick a camera in front of us, and we’ve gotten kinda good at the sound bites (Dara is much better at it than Dave). Watch three of them below.