DATA COUNTS!...YOUR HELP WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
When you help at a beach clean-up, you'll be asked not only to remove marine debris, but to record on Data Cards the kinds and amounts of trash you find. The information on these cards will be used by you and your teacher in the classroom for comparisons.
Data collected since 1986 and analyzed by the Center for Marine Conservation has been used in reports, in testimony on Capitol Hill and at the International Maritime Organization meetings in London to determine how plastic trash will be handled by ships at sea and at ports all around the world.
- Count items in groups of five and record the total.
- Do not write the words "Lots" or "Many". Only numbers of items can be put into the computer.
- Please list animals you find stranded or dead on the beach and, if possible, any entangling debris items.
- Please list foreign items found, country and any debris with identifiable markings, such as a company name.
- Please leave natural items on the beach like driftwood and seaweed. Avoid stepping on dune grass and plants. These things hold the sand and prevent erosion.
- Work with a few people, have one person record the numbers while others collect and bag the trash.
- Please return your data card to the Malibu Foundation so that all your data will be added to the state and national totals.
- Instruct children to avoid sharp objects, glass, dead animals, seaweed and to never pick up hypodermic needles.
THANK YOU for keeping the coast and ocean safe for all of us and for marine wildlife!
