From September 9 through September 17, families, neighbors, community organizations, and individual nature enthusiasts across Oregon joined the 2023 SOLVE Beach & Riverside Cleanup in partnership with Subaru of Portland. More than 1,500 volunteers came together to clean up litter and debris, remove invasive plant species, and restore natural habitats across Oregon's beaches, waterways, and neighborhoods.
At over 70 event sites spanning from the Oregon Coast to Portland, through the Willamette Valley, as well as Central and Southern Oregon, volunteers picked up an estimate of 20,000 pounds of litter and marine debris while wrapping up summer under blue skies. Since the event’s inception in 1986, more than 2.5 million pounds of litter and marine debris have been collected across Oregon.
This is especially important as approximately 80% of all marine debris on the beaches and in the ocean comes from inland sources, such as rivers and street drains. With the rainy season approaching, litter can easily make its way to our sewer system, then to the Willamette, and ultimately end up in the Pacific Ocean, where fragile ecosystems exist.
This makes the annual Beach & Riverside Cleanup not only a cherished, but highly impactful group effort and the reason why SOLVE proudly joins forces with the Ocean Conservancy Group to contribute to a global endeavor aimed at preserving our coastlines on September 16th, International Coastal Cleanup Day.
