Love Your Beach Clean (#LYBC)
We can’t clean our way out of the plastic pollution crisis - however, the data we collect on beach cleans is the first step towards tackling this issue at the source; by analyzing the debris we find not only do we get a sense of which items are the biggest offenders, we also amass compelling evidence as we advocate for systems change.
In the Pacific Rim, we organize three beach cleans;
community clean-ups
In 2019, we launched our #5minutebeachclean campaign, encouraging our community to do a beach clean each time they take a sandy stroll. We also host education sessions with schools and youth groups on our local streets and beaches, training the next generation of ocean protectors. Through this effort, we aspire for local beaches to become self-cleaning!
surf competitions & beach events
If you are thinking of hosting a beach event on the Pacific Rim and would like to go waste free, reach out! We love supporting events to reduce their footprints, minimize waste, and regenerate ecosystems. Each year we support beach events and surf competitions with education stations, waste management, and a #5minutebeachclean!
remote clean-ups
On the rugged, remote, and astonishingly beautiful west coast of Vancouver Island, you will find white sandy beaches and rocky coves choked with marine debris. In 2017, 35 shipping containers crashed into the shores of the Pacific Rim. Since then we have focused our efforts on removing pollution from the remote shorelines of Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds.
Make it count.
As well as using data collected on beach cleans to inform our own campaigns and programs, we contribute our data to national and international direct action conservation programs including the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. We have also partnered with the Marine Debris Tracker App to make it even easier to collect and share your beach clean data - simply download the free app to your device, click on the Surfrider Canada list, and get recording! The better data we collect, the better we understand the marine debris issue, and the easier it is to demonstrate the need for broad systemic change.
Prefer to record your data the old fashioned way? No problem! Download the sheet below, take a picture/ scan the completed data card and send it to speters@pacificrim.surfrider.org!
The next step.
Welcome to the Ocean Plastic Depot, the next step in marine debris infrastructure!
Not only will this support aquaculture, fishing, and marine services industries to responsibly recycle old gear, it will also provide a new lease of life for the ocean plastic that washes up on west coast beaches with every high tide. Volunteer beach cleaners can apply for a free Surfrider Depot Membership!
Download the Depot Membership Pack & apply here!
Volunteers
Days Cleaning
Metric Tons of Debris
View Our Events Calendar For Upcoming LYBC Events
We are always looking for more volunteers. Whether you want to lead your own beach clean, help organize an existing one, or simply come along and collect trash with everyone else, get in touch. Share your beach clean with hashtag #LYBC or #5minutebeachclean.
With your help and stoke to protect what we love, we can keep our coastlines free from trash. Let’s work together to make beach cleans obsolete.
Thank you to the Vancouver Island Marine Debris working group for your support and wisdom and decades of cleaning the coasts of Vancouver Island. An additional thanks to the people of our community who clean our beaches everyday, and the First Nation guardians of this land who have protected it for millennia.
Thank you to our long-standing sponsors Pacific Sands Beach Resort, Wickaninnish Inn, Clayoquot Biosphere Trust and Jamie’s Whaling Station!