Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry: Maine Coastal Program Announces Coastweek 2012 with Maine Coastal Cleanup

September 6, 2012

For more information, contact: Theresa Torrent-Ellis at (207) 287-2351

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Coastal Program is sponsoring a week of coastal cleanups this month throughout the State of Maine.

Coastweek 2012 will kick off on Saturday, Sept. 15, in tandem with the International Coastal Cleanup sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy. From Sept. 15-22, thousands of volunteers will clear Maine’s beaches and waterways of debris in one of Maine’s largest volunteer conservation events.

“Trash jeopardizes the health of the ocean, coastline, economy and people,” said Theresa Torrent-Ellis, Maine Coastweek coordinator for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. “It is in our oceans, beaches and waterways – and it is here to stay unless we change the way we get rid of our garbage and do it properly.”

During the 2011 International Coastal Cleanup, nearly 600,000 people picked up more than 9 million pounds of trash along more than 20,000 miles of coastline worldwide.

In 2011, Maine had 2361 volunteers who cleared 109 miles of beaches and coastal waterways of an estimated 19,082 pounds of trash, for an average of 175 pounds of trash per mile.

Volunteers are an essential part of the cleanup effort, and so far, there are more than 40 cleanup coordinators for a variety of cleanup locations, Torrent-Ellis said. Four Maine state parks have coordinators, and other coastal parks are also in need of coordinators for the clean-up, she noted.

If you are interested in coordinating a cleanup, or finding one to join, go to: http://www.mainecoastalprogram.org and click on the “Maine Coastweek” link.

For more information, contact Theresa Torrent-Ellis, Maine Coastweek coordinator, at theresa.torrent-ellis@maine.gov or call 207.287.2351

For more information about the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, go to: http://www.maine.gov/acf

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