On September 20th, two groups of Oceanic Society community members on opposite sides of the globe joined forces in the fight against plastic pollution.
In the sunny and vibrant Indo-Pacific, ten travelers on an Oceanic Society expedition to Alor, Indonesia, gathered at a shore-side market and jetty at Tanjung Matap. Together with local community volunteers, they collected bottle caps, wrappers, fragmented fishing gear, and countless microplastics before the rainy season could wash them into the sea.
Meanwhile, 8,000 miles away under the fog at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, another group of Oceanic Society volunteers joined the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and thousands worldwide for International Coastal Cleanup Day.
Travelers on an Oceanic Society expedition to Alor, Indonesia joined local partners Planet Deep and Trash Hero to support the “Beat the Flush” campaign, contributing to community-led efforts to reduce waste and protect marine ecosystems.
Joining the Beat the Flush Campaign in Indonesia
In Alor our group’s efforts also connected to a larger movement. Through our partners Planet Deep and Savu South, we connected with the “Beat the Flush” campaign and the local chapter of Trash Hero, a global volunteer movement with nearly 100 grassroots chapters across 14 countries focused on community-led cleanups and waste reduction.
The Beat the Flush strategy is straightforward: clean up key drainage sites across Indonesia during the dry season (June through September) before October rains flush everything into the ocean. By the time International Coastal Cleanup Day arrived, eight drainage sites had already been cleared and more than 2,000 pounds of waste removed, a strong start to a campaign that is just gaining momentum.
Fighting Plastic Pollution in the Coral Triangle
Alor is part of the Coral Triangle, a region that is home to over 75% of the world’s coral species, six of seven sea turtle species, and an extraordinary diversity of reef fish, marine mammals, and more. Every piece of plastic removed in Alor is one less threat to this biodiversity hotspot vital to global ocean health.
With limited waste collection in many parts of Indonesia, plastic often accumulates in drainage channels, riverbanks, and coastal zones. When seasonal monsoon rains arrive, this waste gets flushed into some of the world’s most biodiverse waters.
Our ten travelers got their hands dirty alongside local volunteers, experiencing firsthand how their trip directly supports conservation in the region.
More about plastic pollution in the coral triangle: WATCH: Blue Habits Episode 1, featuring Fisk Johnson
Participants help keep Alor’s beaches pristine, joining local conservation efforts to collect waste and protect the marine environment.
Supporting Local Conservation Leaders
Through our partnership with Planet Deep and Savu South, Oceanic Society directs traveler support to local leaders tackling plastic pollution head-on.Building on our successful Traveler Plastic Pollution Offset program in Kenya—which funds the removal of 200 pounds of waste for every traveler—Indonesia is our next location for this initiative.
By compensating waste collectors in high-impact areas, we provide sustainable livelihoods for a service that protects both communities and marine environments. Another examples includes Savu South developing innovative solutions like their ice cube program, which provides reusable ice to local fishermen using renewable energy. This prevents thousands of single-use plastic sleeves from entering the ocean each week, amplifying the impact of efforts like Beat the Flush and the cleanup work our travelers participated in.
Under the fog at Ocean Beach, volunteers partnered with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy for International Coastal Cleanup Day, collecting litter to protect coastal and marine habitats.
San Francisco Cleanup at Ocean Beach
Across the Pacific, Oceanic Society community members came together for a coastal cleanup in our hometown of San Francisco. Partnering with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and supported by volunteers from the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Bay Area Chapter, the group joined dozens of other ocean advocates to clean up Ocean Beach, a 3.5-mile stretch of sand within Golden Gate National Recreation Area. More than 150 registered volunteers participated, plus many passersby who joined in, working side-by-side to remove hundreds of pounds of trash from the shoreline in just a few hours.
The event took place on Saturday, September 20, as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day, an annual global campaign that mobilizes thousands of volunteers worldwide to collect trash from rivers, coasts, and oceans. For Oceanic Society, Ocean Beach has become a special gathering point—this was one of more than ten cleanups our community has organized here in recent years, each helping to safeguard habitat for seabirds, marine mammals, and countless intertidal species.
Volunteers help keep San Francisco’s coastline clean, contributing to local and global efforts to protect marine and coastal environments.
From Local Action to Global Impact
These simultaneous cross-ocean cleanups reflect Oceanic Society’s global commitment to fighting plastic pollution worldwide. Through our annual Global Ocean Cleanup, we’ve supported community-led cleanups that have removed over 133 tons of waste from coastal habitats across 18 countries. Our Traveler Plastic Pollution Offset program ensures every Oceanic Society traveler contributes to removing 200 pounds of waste from the environment, whether in Kenya, Indonesia, or other priority sites.
These initiatives demonstrate how our programs work together: local partners leading the work on the ground, travelers participating directly in conservation, and sustained funding that keeps waste collectors employed year-round.
Get Involved
Inspired to take action against plastic pollution? Here’s how:
- Take the challenge: Our 7-Day Fight Plastic Pollution Challenge helps you reflect on single-use plastics in your everyday life and find ways to make small changes
- Join our Global Ocean Cleanup: Get involved in our upcoming Global Ocean Cleanup campaign
- Dive deeper into the issue: Learn more about the plastic pollution crisis in our Learn & Take Action resource library.
