The FIFA World Cup 2026 Miami Host Committee partnered with the Ocean Conservancy to mark its 40th annual International Coastal Cleanup at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. The event brought together volunteers to remove trash before it could reach the ocean, part of a global effort to address the plastics crisis.
According to Ocean Conservancy, an activist and educational group, more than 11 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year, the equivalent of a garbage truck’s worth of waste every minute.
Plastic pollution is a pressing issue in Miami-Dade, where residents generate nearly twice the daily trash of the national average. Last year alone, more than 486,000 volunteers across the globe collected 7.4 million pounds of debris, with food wrappers, beverage bottles and cigarette butts topping the list.
At the Miami cleanup, participants reported finding similar items, especially microplastics and single-use plastics that continue to dominate the waste stream.
“Today, all of the volunteers are collecting citizen science,” said Dave Doebler, CoFounder of Volunteer Cleanup said. “We’re really hoping to do is to, awaken people to the problem, but also things that they can do within their personal lives and within their sphere of influence to reduce the consumption of single use plastics.”
The Ocean Conservancy says events like this provide valuable data.
Using the Clean Swell app, volunteers log what they collect, contributing to the world’s largest marine debris database. This information has already helped shape policies like bag bans and foam restrictions.
While one cleanup cannot solve the problem, organizers view it as both a call to action and a way to involve communities in protecting the ocean for the future.
