Coastweek is a worldwide celebration of our oceans and shorelines. All over the world people gather to pause and reflect and celebrate our ties to the sea. The State of Maine observes Coastweek with a series of lectures, museum exhibits, concerts and activities designed to celebrate our long, varied and vital links with our ocean. The highlight of the week is the annual Coastal Cleanup. Since 1985, volunteers from all over the state have gathered on our shores and participated in this annual event. State organizations, private groups, school groups, scouts and other concerned citizens gather to clean up some of the trash that has been left on our beaches. Coastal Cleanup isn’t about trash, it’s about getting together as "Mainers", recognizing the need to find a solution to the problem of marine debris, and assuming our proper role as stewards of the land. By working together solutions are found, problems are solved and we discover that one person really can make a difference.

The Gray Team at Lawrence Junior High School has participated in the Coastweek program since 1997. We've "adopted" the beach at Lincolnville as our cleanup area. Since we became involved, Gray Team students have removed nearly 1000 pounds of debris from this lovely coastal area. Our results have been sent to the State of Maine, and included in their tabulation of results. Thanks to our students, and people like them, Coastweek is a tremendous success, and participation grows each year. In 1998, Maine's participation in the Coastal Cleanup program was the most exciting yet! About 2067 people cleaned up over 15,281 pounds of debris from around 271 miles of coastline. In the United States, over 159,000 people cleaned up an amazing 3,331,604 lbs of debris from over 6,800 miles of coastline! We're eagerly awaiting the most recent results from the Cleanup program. We hope that the program will continue to grow, involving more participants and more beach mileage covered resulting in even more people making a difference in their world!

 

 

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