What We Find

Beach sweeps by the numbers…

In the past 9+ years, we’ve hosted over 500 clean ups involving over 16,000 volunteers! Wow!

In 2024, we held 36 clean ups involving 1,504 volubteers
In 2023, we held 46 clean ups involving 2,040 volunteers
In 2022, we held 53 clean ups involving 1,894 volunteers
In 2021, we held 66 clean ups involving 1,843 volunteers
In 2020, we held 53 clean ups involving 1,469 volunteers
In 2019, we held 74 beach cleans involving over 3,200 volunteers
In 2018, we held 71 beach cleanings involving 2,163 volunteers
In 2017, we held 65 clean ups involving 1,987 volunteers
In 2016, we held 47 clean ups involving 1,146 volunteers

Types of trash we find…

Frequency distribution of beach trash by item count, 2024-2019 consolidated:

1. Butts & smoking related materials (packaging, lighters, vapes)

*UPDATE – since the passage of the smoke and vape-free beach ordinance in 2021, beach butt litter has fallen by over 80%!

2. Straws, stirrers, & wrappers

3. Paper & cardboard pieces

4. Plastic bottle caps

5. Plastic fragments, all sizes

6. Snack wrappers & food packaging

7. Styrofoam pieces

8. Plastic cups lids

9. Aluminum cans

10. Plastic bags & baggies

11. Plastic bottles

12. Fireworks remnants

Notes

– We’ve counted over 400,000 butts from Tybee’s beach in 3 years and removed tens of thousands more that were not counted; 245,500 have been recycled with Terracycle

– The Top Ten trash items account for over 93% of all beach trash removed

What We Find

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