Lead a Virginia Waterways Cleanup
for 2026!
We are proud to be part of the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup.
Interested in leading a Cleanup? Become a site captain with CVW!
CVW encourages year-round cleanup events and data collection, with most International Coastal Cleanup events taking place between August and December.
Visit our Join a Cleanup page to find upcoming events across Virginia. Don’t see one in your area—or want to organize your own? Sign up to become a Site Captain and lead the way!
How to Plan a Cleanup
1. Pick a date and time—It can be anytime but most of our ICC cleanups occur late August to December
2. Find an area that has litter and gather a team
3. Read about how to lead a litter cleanup in Virginia in our Site Captain Handbook and find more resources in our Site Captain Tool Kit
4. Sign up to be by using this Google Form
If you have any issues filling out the form or have further questions, email cleanups@cleanvirginiawaterways.org
Data Collection: An Important Part of Cleanup Events
How are the data used?
Your data will be used to help us understand trends and come up with solutions to marine debris and plastic pollution! Where do the data go? They go into the Ocean Conservancy’s online open-access data base: TIDES. Anyone can make a free account, and download the data.
Using the Data:
See Clean Virginia Waterways publication page to see how your data help our scientists and researchers work on SOLUTIONS to plastic pollution and marine debris. CVW also shares the data widely with others working on this urgent problem. All data can be downloaded for FREE from the Ocean Conservancy's TIDES on-line database.
The 2025 ICC Annual Report is available now!
Plastic items dominated the 2025 Virginia ICC Top Ten list. We put the data to work to find answers and solutions. Up to 80% of debris in the oceans comes from land: mismanaged waste, litter, illegal dumping, and uncovered trucks. Data collected by volunteers during the ICC in Virginia is summarized in reports, which are shared with policy makers. Organizations across Virginia use this information to develop educational campaigns as well as policies and laws.
How to collect data
Every time you remove litter from the environment, DOUBLE the value of your effort by COLLECTING DATA about the quantity & types of litter you find!
Option One:
Use the Clean Swell App on your phone YEAR-ROUND to quickly record data.
Option Two:
Use a paper data form that you download from CVW’s Site Captain Tool Kit. Then send a photo or scan of the completed data cards to cleanups@cleanvirginiawaterways.org or enter your total cleanup data into the TIDES on-line database.
Thank you to our sponsors Keep Virginia Beautiful and the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund for supporting our ICC Cleanup efforts!
Please purchase a Friends of the Chesapeake license plate! You will be supporting the Virginia Waterways Cleanup as well as MANY additional worthy projects for a cleaner and healthier Chesapeake Bay and Virginia's rivers too! Learn more: Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.
Please Support the Virginia Waterways Cleanup!
Clean Virginia Waterways is seeking additional sponsors to support the 2026 Virginia Waterways Cleanup. Your support will help us:
support CVW's efforts to recruit & train Site Captains and volunteers;
identify litter hotspots and work with local groups to organize targeted cleanups;
purchase & ship cleanup supplies to groups that need them;
track the data collected during these cleanups;
advertise cleanups via CVW's social media channels, newsletters & website;
support CVW staff & interns; and
assist with local cleanups when possible.
Please contact Christina at Christina@CleanVirginiaWaterways.org for more information about sponsoring the Virginia Waterways Cleanup.