About 100,000 marine animals die from ocean plastic ingestion or entanglement every year. Roughly 75-199 million tons of plastic waste are estimated to be in our oceans right now. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, human activity is the most prevalent cause of pollution along the coastlines and far inland.
I am involved in the nonprofit organization, Heal the Bay, whose mission is to make our beaches safe and clean. I heard about the program through their volunteer opportunities meeting that Heal the Bay hosts monthly. Once I completed a Zoom for Beach Captains training, I was able to participate in their beach cleanups as an official member. The Beach Captains program is for people who want to get involved with setting up and taking down the site for any given cleanup, as well as helping register and talk to volunteers. Beach captains help employees and trained volunteers set up for private beach cleanups including Heal the Bay’s monthly Nothing but Sand beach cleanups.
By attending these cleanups, I am helping get rid of harmful plastics and microplastics that cause harm to marine life. Heal the Bay provides opportunities for students and community members to make a tangible difference.
Clementine Oxman, a sophomore at Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, is my friend who participates as a beach captain with me at beach cleanups. Oxman said she enjoys connecting with others and seeing how others also care about helping the environment.
“My favorite part [of the Beach Captains program] is connecting [with others] and making a difference,” Oxman said. “[The program has taught me] that a lot of people care about the environment.”
Oxman initially joined the Beach Captains program because she is dedicated to helping save marine life. She said when she works as a beach captain she is always pleasantly surprised by how many people share the same dedication she does.
“I want to help in any way I can,” Oxman said. “I really want to make a difference in the world, specifically with the ocean.”
According to the organization Surfers Against Sewage, 11 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year. That is equivalent to 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic dumped into the world’s major bodies of water, such as oceans, lakes and rivers.
Just during Coastal Cleanup Day 2025 hosted by Heal the Bay, 6,772 volunteers collectively picked up 19,139 pounds of trash from the beach and 610 pounds of recyclables.
Not only do beach cleanups help the environment and save marine animals from possible danger, they are also a good way for students in 10th-12th grade to earn hours toward one of the service awards. For the bronze award, you must earn 30 hours of service over four months. With Heal the Bay, which I have been volunteering for since May 2025, I have earned 14 service hours through their volunteer opportunities.
There are many ways to get involved with service regarding the beach and ocean, such as Heal the Bay, Surfrider LA and the California Coastal Commission, which frequently host online Zoom meetings you can join to learn about new policies and community complaints and proposals citizens are filing about new coastal policies and laws. There are so many more ways to get involved in saving our marine animals and cleaning the beach, and the most important thing is to take the first step and sign up for something.
According to Texas Disposable Systems, if debris continues to be put in the ocean at the same rate it is now, it will result in less oxygen in the ocean and become a dead zone where very few marine animals will survive. It is up to the people to restore the damage done to our environment and marine animals, and I hope everybody is inspired to get involved in helping their local beaches. Don’t forget to leave every place you go cleaner than you found it, and pick up your trash. Be a part of the solution.
