Get involved and join the global effort for the International Coastal Cleanup 2023

Marine debris, particularly plastic ocean is negatively impacting our marine life all around the world, including in Vanuatu. Cleaning up our beaches and coastlines can help, but documenting what we find to demonstrate the scale of the problem can help change people’s thinking and change policy. Both on a global scale, such as the commitment countries made to have a global treaty on plastics earlier this year, and  at a local level, as happened with the introduction of the single-use plastics bans that came into effect a few years ago here in Vanuatu. 

Since VESS started in 2014, we have conducted cleanups, with the help of our concerned volunteers, and collected data on what are the most problematic items and how much rubbish is accumulating on our beaches and coastline. 

How can you help? Organise your own cleanup in your area any time in September or join ours.

What is the ICC?

For decades, volunteers with Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup have removed millions of kilograms of rubbish from our oceans, beaches and waterways every year in September.  They not only pick up trash, they count every item as well. The resulting item-by-item, location-by-location Ocean Trash Index provides the only global snapshot of the ocean debris littering the world’s coasts and waterways. VESS works with the ICC team from the Ocean Conservancy and has been the country coordinator for Vanuatu for the last 6 years.