1 day, 7M lbs. of trash cleaned off coasts

The Ocean Conservancy, an international environmental group, said nearly 7 million pounds of debris were collected by its volunteers around the world during a single day last September during the Conservancy's 23rd annual coastal cleanup day.

• Information from Ocean Conservancy

The total included more than 3.2 million cigarette butts, the items most commonly found. About 1.4 million plastic bags were also found, as well as more than 940,000 food wrappers and containers and 930,000 caps and lids.

Volunteers also collected more than 26,000 tires.

The group said the event shows careless people discard trash everywhere, but coastlines are their favorite targets.

The conservancy says trash dumping continues to be a serious threat to ocean ecosystems and marine life.

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