KAHULUI – Friends new and old, join the Malama Maui Nui ‘ohana for a Kahului Harbor cleanup on Sept. 21 at 8 a.m. to kick-off the month-long “Get the Drift and Bag It!” campaign.

The nonprofit invites all of Maui Nui to come together for this cleanup event.

This campaign kick-off falls on the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day, where communities from across the globe host cleanups to collect data on litter, thereby supporting science-based solutions for a healthy Earth and its oceans.

Malama Maui Nui has participated in this initiative for over three decades, and it looks forward to working with the Ocean Conservancy on the ICC.

If you cannot make the kick-off but would still like to volunteer your time, there are several opportunities throughout this four-week campaign and the rest of the year! Set an example by gathering your friends and family to host your own cleanup, and MMN will sponsor your event.

For information about this event, to volunteer or to host your own cleanup, visit www.malamamauinui.org/volunteer or call 877-2524.

The International Coastal Cleanup is an annual effort in which communities in over 100 countries come together to remove debris from their local coastal environments. Most of this debris is plastic.

Pacific Whale Foundation research shows that 70-90 percent of debris found on and around Maui is composed of plastic, which has disastrous impacts for all marine life, from coral and the small organisms that constitute plankton to some of the largest mammals on Earth.

This year, Pacific Whale Foundation (PWF) staff and volunteers will be stationed at a range of coastal areas throughout the island. PWF invites residents and visitors to join in removing harmful debris from the marine environment and to reduce the amount of litter that reaches the beach in the first place by rethinking daily habits through its new RETHINK campaign.

The 25-year partnership between Pacific Whale Foundation and the Malama Maui Nui “Get the Drift and Bag It!” campaign will continue, as volunteers partner to clean Kahului Harbor – an area that is consistently bombarded with marine debris washing ashore from the Great Pacific garbage patch.

The Kahului Harbor cleanup is from 8 to 11 a.m. with lunch provided after. Sign up at malamamauinui.org/volunteer.

PWF will partner with LahainaTown Action Committee for the 15th annual Lahaina Town Clean Up at its Lahaina Harbor cleanup site. This cleanup runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. with lunch provided by Pacific’O. While pre-event registration is not necessary for this site, you can join PWF’s volunteer hui at pacificwhale.org/volunteer for ongoing opportunities throughout Maui.

Additional PWF partners and sites are currently being scheduled, with just three weeks until this global event. To help generate excitement and awareness of International Coastal Cleanup Day, PWF is challenging its online community to a 30-Day Instagram Countdown.

If you are interested in sponsoring a cleanup location, contact Alicia Wood at AliciaWood@pacificwhale.org for information.

To help encourage people to reduce plastic pollution by RETHINKing their daily habits, PWF is holding an Instagram challenge leading up to the ICC.

They challenge you to share how you reduce single-use plastics in your everyday life by posting your most creative and innovative single-use plastics alternatives.

Each week, PWF will select a winner, who can choose a free PWF cruise or Ocean Store eco-product. The challenge is underway and will end on International Coastal Cleanup Day, Sept 21.

To participate, simply post a photo relating to the theme word of the day, tag @pacificwhalefoundation and use the hashtag #CoastalPWF.

The RETHINK campaign webpage (pacificwhale.org/rethink) is filled with information about plastic pollution and alternatives to get you started.

For more information on Pacific Whale Foundation’s International Coastal Cleanup Day events, visit pacificwhale.org/events.