Volunteers picked up six tons of rubbish during the 2017 Lahaina Town Clean Up.

LAHAINA – Volunteers are sought for the 14th annual Lahaina Town Clean Up on Saturday, Sept. 15, from 8 a.m. to noon.

“We are a small part of the many cleanups taking place in Maui and in over 120 countries for the International Coastal Cleanup on Sept. 15th,” noted Matt Lane, who helps coordinate the event.

Last year, over 300 volunteers – including school groups, civic clubs, local businesses, residents and visitors – spent the day cleaning up Lahaina streets, harbors and beaches from Puamana to the Mala Boat Ramp, collecting six tons of materials.

The 2018 town cleanup begins at Kamehameha Iki Park at 8 a.m. with registration and snacks. Lunch will be provided by Pacific’o Restaurant at the conclusion of the cleanup at noon.

Trilogy Excursions will leave Lahaina Harbor at 9 a.m. for a Blue Aina reef cleanup.

“We are very excited to have the Blue Aina cleanup on board this year in support of www.eatlessplastic.com through Love the Sea,” Lane explained.

For more information, or to volunteer, contact Lane at askmattlane@gmail.com or Tambara Garrick at tambarag@gmail.com.

The Lahaina Town Clean Up is supported by Malama Maui Nui’s “Get the Drift and Bag It!” campaign in conjunction with The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup.

“Get the Drift and Bag It!” is an opportunity for residents and visitors alike to join in a global effort to remove litter and debris from our coastal environment.

The statewide campaign is part of the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup that engages hundreds of thousands of volunteers each year to take action for the ocean and for the creatures that depend on it – including humans.

Over its 30-plus years of existence, over 10.5 million people have picked up more than 192 million pounds of litter across more than 150 countries.

Cleanup volunteers are asked to download and utilize the Clean Swell App to keep track of the debris removed during the cleanup.

This data will be added to the International Coastal Cleanup’s marine debris database.

Results from the data help inform policy and debris removal efforts.