Help Clean Our Beaches, Get a Free Tee: Loggerhead’s 'Tour de Trash' Returns

There’s a pretty simple deal happening around our beaches this September: show up, pick up some trash and you might go home with a free T-shirt.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center is bringing back its Tour de Trash campaign for International Coastal Cleanup Month, with a series of beach cleanups planned around northern Palm Beach County throughout September.

And this is one of those local events where an hour or two can actually make a visible difference.

The campaign gets underway Saturday, Sept. 5, with Loggerhead’s Blue Friends Society Cleanup in Juno Beach. Participants can stop by anytime between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m., check in at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, grab cleanup supplies and head out to the beach.

Free shirts for early arrivals

There’s a little extra incentive this month.

At the Tour de Trash events, the first 50 participants will receive a limited-edition International Coastal Cleanup T-shirt.

The Sept. 5 kickoff also comes with 10% off at Loggerhead’s Tortuga Café and gift store for cleanup participants.

Registration is required in advance so organizers can make sure they have enough cleanup supplies available.

More cleanups are coming

Can’t make Saturday? Tour de Trash will make several more stops around Palm Beach County:

Sept. 8 — Palm Beach
5–7 p.m.
N. Ocean Way & Mediterranean Road

Sept. 12 — Phil Foster Park
8–10 a.m.
In partnership with Cox Science Center and Aquarium and Pura Vida Divers

Sept. 15 — Coral Cove Park
5:30–7:30 p.m.

Sept. 22 — Carlin Park
5:30–7:30 p.m.

The Carlin Park cleanup is probably the one Jupiter residents will want to circle. It’s close to home, it’s an easy way to get the kids involved, and you’ll be helping clean a stretch of coastline many of us use all year.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center provides the cleanup materials, so participants mainly need to register, show up and be ready to help.

Why it matters

Beach trash isn't just an eyesore. Plastic and other debris can make its way into the ocean, where it poses a threat to sea turtles and other marine life.

Loggerhead doesn’t simply collect the debris, either. Its conservation team sorts and documents items recovered during cleanups, using the information to better understand where marine pollution is coming from and develop prevention and education programs.

So yes, there’s a free shirt involved. But the better takeaway might be leaving one of our local beaches a little cleaner than you found it.

Registration and more information: Visit Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s Tour de Trash page at marinelife.org.