Saturday, September 20th, 2008 9am – Noon

Beach Sweep/River Sweep—organized by S.C. Sea Grant Consortium in partnership with S.C. Department of Natural Resources—is the largest one-day litter cleanup of South Carolina’s beaches and waterways. Every third Saturday in September thousands of South Carolinians volunteer to clear trash from our beaches, rivers, lakes, marshes, and swamps. Last year, nearly 6,000 South Carolinians from the mountains, through the midlands, to the coast collected over 57 tons of trash from our waterways. The 2008 Sweep will be held on Saturday, September 20th from 9am-noon.

Beach Sweep/River Sweep is an annual event for South Carolina since 1988 and is held in conjunction with The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, which involves several hundred- thousand volunteers in over 75 nations.

Beach Sweep/River Sweep benefits South Carolina’s environment, citizens, and visitors by: removing unsightly and potentially harmful debris; promoting stewardship in our communities; increasing awareness of the heavy toll litter takes on the economy and the environment; and educating people on the importance of recycling.

Litter and debris are threats to fish, wildlife, and our natural resources. It’s also a health and safety threat to swimmers, boaters, and fishers, as well as an economic threat to industries such as tourism and recreation.

Thanks to our volunteers, approximately 943 tons of trash have been collected, recycled, and removed from South Carolina’s waterways over the past 20 years!

Volunteer for the Sweep

Would you like to be a part of this year’s Beach Sweep/River Sweep? Anyone can participate, including businesses, civic clubs, recreation clubs, individuals, families, school groups, church groups, and youth groups. Volunteers select any river, lake, swamp, beach, creek, or marsh area they wish to clean. We need site captains and regular volunteers. Site captains make individual sweep events happen, as they are the local leaders who chose a place to cleanup and organize a group of volunteers to get the cleanup job done. Regular volunteers can join an existing group by contacting a site captain who is looking for additional help.

Find out more. Go to: Volunteers / Site Captains / Cleanup Sites

For additional information about how you can participate in Beach Sweep/River Sweep, please contact Bill Marshall, Inland Coordinator at 803-734-9096 or marshallb@dnr.sc.gov. To participate on the coast, contact Susan Ferris Hill, coastal coordinator at 843-953-2078 or susan.ferris.hill@scseagrant.org