Kaua’i volunteers mobilize for 40th Annual International Coastal Cleanup

Volunteers worldwide, including those on the Garden Isle, are getting ready to roll up their sleeves for the 40th annual International Coastal Cleanup.

The Ocean Conservancy is celebrating 40 years of action and impact, scheduled for Sept. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., marking one of the largest single-day efforts worldwide to clean trash from beaches and waterways.

Originally organized globally by the Ocean Conservancy, the cleanup has grown since its humble beginnings to become a powerful movement for ocean conservation.

On Kaua’i, volunteers from the Surfrider Foundation Kauai Chapter are organizing efforts to clean the shoreline at Nukoli’i Beach, located behind the Outrigger Kaua’i Beach Resort, through their OUTRIGGERZone volunteer program in partnership with Ho’omalu Ke Kai.

Nukoli’i Beach has become a marine debris hotspot due to its location and ocean currents.

Back in July, Surfrider Kaua‘i announced that beach clean-up efforts in 2024 resulted in the removal of nearly 163,000 pounds — or 81 tons — of marine debris and trash from Kaua‘i beaches and coastlines.

That broke the previous record set in 2017 by almost 43,000 pounds.

“One of the reasons so much debris lands on Kaua‘i’s beaches and coastline is that ocean currents have pushed the Pacific Garbage Patch closer to the islands,” reported Surfrider Hawai’i Regional Manager Hanna Lilley during the 2025 annual beach cleanup report.

Additionally, a second-day beach cleanup is planned for Sept. 26 at 4:30 p.m. The meetup will be at the resort’s Ocean Lawn near the Beach Cleanup station.

Ocean Conservancy’s Senior Director of the International Coastal Cleanup, Allison Schutes, said, “I am so proud to celebrate the International Coastal Cleanup’s last 40 years of impact.”

“Over the years, nearly 19 million volunteers have joined local cleanup efforts to remove over 400 million pounds of trash, equivalent to about 10,000 garbage trucks full of trash removed from beaches and waterways worldwide.”

Individuals interested in volunteering can scan the QR code or call 808-635-2593.

Click here to learn more about the Ocean Conservancy.