Volunteers Needed!
To Help Clean Up Our Beaches and Wetlands along the Jersey Shore!
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!
Let's Make Trash Extinct!
Save Coastal Wildlife, along with our friends & partners host cleanup events
that are open to the public throughout the year.
Cleanups typically take place either on a Saturday or Sunday from 10:00am to 12:00pm.
Save Coastal Wildlife can also offer volunteer cleanup events for businesses/corporations, schools, and groups during the week.
All volunteers are required to fill out the volunteer waiver and release form prior to participating in any volunteer activity.
All volunteers need to follow the below safety rules:
Please bring a face mask and kindly wear it if you wish.
No hugging, handshakes, or high fives. Smiles, peace signs and words of encouragement are always most welcome.
Frequent hand-washing / use of hand sanitizer during and after the cleanup.
Do not touch your face during the cleanup.
Wash hands thoroughly (20+ seconds) after the cleanup.
Do not touch another volunteer or person before, during or after the cleanup.
Please wear sturdy shoes that can dirty. No Flip-Flops! We recommend wearing boots, hip boots or waders that can get both wet and dirty.
Pick up litter that you can safely handle and lift. Beware of items like broken glass, sharp items, etc., which are occasionally found during a cleanup. It is preferable to use a trash picker during cleanups if possible.
We will provide supplies (reusable trash bags, trash pickers, etc.) all you need to bring is masks and gloves!!
Decades of misuse, poor enforcement, and short-sighted behavior by some people has left quite a few wild places and green spaces along the Jersey Shore as dirty and disgusting illegal dumping grounds.
How to Volunteer for Public Clean-Ups
PLEASE sign up to receive emails from Save Coastal Wildlife nonprofit. Important volunteer information and cleanup activities will be sent out to interested people.
Why Are Cleanups Important?
Every time you see trash on the ground (sidewalk, parking lot, roadway, beach, etc…), unless someone picks it up and properly throws it away, that piece of trash, such as a plastic bottle or bag, will make its way to a wetland, estuary and/or ocean.
Plastic doesn't break down, it only breaks up into smaller, and smaller pieces.
Once plastic enters the water, it might be ingested by animals like whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and fish. Regardless, it will definitely become part of a "plastic soup" that chokes, degrades, and pollutes ecosystems to further harm wildlife.
Volunteer cleanups is one way to help prevent this from happening!
An hour or two of volunteer time picking up large debris and smaller items like bottle caps, random microplastics, and sifting through seaweed to pluck out small pieces of styrofoam to make sure it doesn't end up being mistaken for fish food is not only a great opportunity to catch up with friends, meet new ones, and engage with your community, but it allows you to do something really positive for the environment, and for your family, friends, and all the wild animals and wild places along the Jersey Shore that you love!
Cleanup Spotlight
A 2014 spring clean-up in Union Beach, New Jersey, a small coastal community located along Raritan Bay. Volunteers removed over 50 tires that were stuck in the mud and muck of tidal wetlands for many years.