- Categories:
- Cause
- Tags:
- ConservationEnvironmentWildlife
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- United States
- Date change rule:
- Every July 1-7
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- 🏖️
Clean Beaches Week champions the health of our coastlines and oceans every July 1-7. This vital observance encourages everyone to participate in cleanup efforts, educate themselves on marine conservation, and practice responsible beach etiquette. Dive in and help keep our shores pristine for generations to come.
Want to sponsor Clean Beaches Week? Learn how
Expected Clean Beaches Week Deals
As a ‘Cause’ holiday, Clean Beaches Week focuses on impactful fundraising and awareness campaigns rather than commercial deals. Organizations like the Ocean Conservancy and Surfrider Foundation often partner with brands to host beach cleanups and donation drives. Look for opportunities to contribute to their efforts, such as purchasing branded merchandise where a portion of proceeds benefits conservation, or participating in corporate-sponsored volunteer days. We will update this page with confirmed live events and partner initiatives as July 1 approaches, directing you to official channels for participation.
Platform Guide for Clean Beaches Week
Tag @nationaltoday_ and use #CleanBeachesWeek. Share stunning photos of clean beaches or document your cleanup efforts to inspire others.
Mention National Today (facebook.com/nationaltoday) and use #CleanBeachesWeek. Organize a local cleanup event and invite your community to join.
X/Twitter
Mention @NatlToday and use #CleanBeachesWeek. Share alarming facts about ocean pollution and highlight solutions or local initiatives.
Clean Beaches Week Hero
Rachel Carson
History of Clean Beaches Week
Started in 2003, the week has drawn enormous public support with over 150 coastal governors, mayors, and county commissions having now issued proclamations in support of the week. But this isn’t by any means a new subject.
Humans have been harming the ocean’s ecosystem for hundreds of years with plastics, toxic waste, oil spills, and much more. Land-based waste products end up in seas, oceans, and beaches. Ocean trash affects the health of wildlife, people, and local economies. The trash in the water and on the shore can be ingested by wildlife, or entangle animals with lethal consequences. Plastic also attracts and concentrates other pollutants from surrounding seawater, posing a contamination risk to those species that then eat it. Scientists are studying the impacts of that contamination on fish and shellfish as well as the possible impact it may have on human health.
Plastic has been found in 59% of seabirds such as albatross and pelicans, in 100% of sea turtle species, and more than 25% of fish sampled from seafood markets around the world.
Beginning in the mid-1970s, the Arcata Recycling Center, under the leadership of Wes Chesbro (who has since served a long career in the California State Legislature), began running beach cleanups in search of recyclable material. Since then, hundreds of other communities have followed in their footsteps with efforts like Clean Beaches Week to make up for the danger littering has brought to our planet.
Clean Beaches Week timeline
Mumbai is home to the world's largest beach cleanup. For the past 119 Sundays, volunteers have toiled in the sludge to remove 12,000 tonnes of plastic from Versova Beach -- and they're still going strong.
California bans plastic bags.
Both The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed resolutions enacting Clean Beaches Week by unanimous consent.
The first beach clean-ups took place.
The perception of beaches changed from a perilous place of danger to a sought-after escape.
How Businesses Can Celebrate Clean Beaches Week
Local businesses, especially those near coastal areas, can champion Clean Beaches Week by organizing community cleanup events for their staff and customers. Restaurants can offer discounts to volunteers who participate in local cleanups, or introduce special menu items with a portion of proceeds benefiting a local marine conservation group. Retailers can promote reusable beach gear and eco-friendly products, educating customers on sustainable choices. Highlighting the importance of keeping our shores pristine benefits everyone, from tourism to local wildlife.
Clean Beaches Week FAQs
When is Clean Beaches Week?
Clean Beaches Week 2026 runs from Wednesday, July 1, through Tuesday, July 7. This annual observance encourages everyone to help keep our coastlines healthy and beautiful.
How much trash is found on beaches?
According to the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, volunteers have collected over 350 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways worldwide since 1986. Plastic items, especially food wrappers, bottles, and bags, consistently top the list of collected debris.
What are the biggest threats to clean beaches?
The primary threats include plastic pollution, which breaks down into microplastics, and marine debris from land-based sources. Other significant issues are chemical runoff, oil spills, and unsustainable coastal development that erodes natural habitats.
How can I help keep beaches clean?
You can help by participating in local beach cleanups, reducing your use of single-use plastics, and properly disposing of all waste. Educating others about responsible beach etiquette, such as not leaving anything behind, also makes a big difference.
Clean Beaches Week Activities
Go to the beach!
Each year 180 million Americans make 2 billion trips to the beach! Celebrate Clean Beaches Week by heading to a beach near you. Consider making a further positive impact by traveling via public transport or carpooling to reduce your carbon emissions
Clean-up a beach
If you go to the beach for fun, always make sure you "leave no trace," taking everything you brought to the beach back with you. You can even go a step further by participating in a beach clean-up to collect trash that others have left behind.
Watch and Learn
The Earth has over 372,000 miles of coastline, and each mile is special in its own way. Learn more about the beaches of the world by watching a documentary like Mission Blue, The Blue Planet, or A Plastic Ocean.
5 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT POLLUTION
Plastic overload
Eight million metric tons: That's how much plastic we dump into the oceans each year.
5 garbage patches
There’s so much junk at sea, the debris has formed five giant garbage patches around the world, the largest being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, with an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of trash covering an area twice the size of Texas.
Worse over time
When plastic eventually degrades (which takes 400 years for most plastics), the process releases chemicals that further contaminates the sea.
The weight of our mistakes
By 2050, ocean plastic is expected to outweigh all of the ocean’s fish.
Dead Zones
In 2017, oceanographers detected a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico nearly the size of New Jersey — the largest dead zone ever measured.
Why We Love Clean Beaches Week
Beaches are for everybody
Beaches are a public space open to everyone, a place where all people can come together to enjoy the sand, the sun, and of course, the cool water!
The original A/C
Today if it's too hot out, many people can enjoy the luxury of staying indoors in the air conditioning. But for generations, and even now, for people without air conditioning, the beach, where the cool water and sea breeze keeps the air a few degrees cooler than inland, is one of the only places to get relief from the heat!
Gateways to the ocean
8 million metric tons of plastic make their way into the world's oceans each year, and the beach is the ocean's front door! By caring for the beach and keeping it clean, we also care for our oceans, which make up 70% of the planet and are home to over 1 million known species (and maybe up to 9 million unknown ones).
Clean Beaches Week dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | July 1–7 | Wednesday–Tuesday |
| 2027 | July 1–7 | Thursday–Wednesday |
| 2028 | July 1–7 | Saturday–Friday |
| 2029 | July 1–7 | Sunday–Saturday |
| 2030 | July 1–7 | Monday–Sunday |
Social Media Tips for Clean Beaches Week
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