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03.21.22

Connecting Our Coastline 2022

Connecting our Coastline is back for 2022! This is a year-long beach cleanup initiative run by the Surfrider Foundation MA Chapter to help people connect to the Bay State's long and diverse coastline.

With the aid of fellow ocean lovers and supporters like you, the Chapter's goal is to receive at least one cleanup data report from every coastal city and town* in MA before the end of 2022. Last year's version resulted in 49 cleanup reports from 39 coastal communities, with more than 678 pounds of trash and 15,600 individual items logged. We're hoping to do even better in 2022!

Connecting our Coastline is just one more reason for all people to get out to the coast to discover what there is to love, and what’s out there that is worth protecting.


This year we hope to Connect our Coastline in Massachusetts with a combination of chapter-organized group cleanups and DIY data contributions from across the state.

For group cleanups, please stay tuned to our events page or follow us on Instagram and Facebook! We’ll also use these platforms to provide regular updates on our collective progress towards Connecting our Coast.

YOU can also help out by Doing-It-Yourself in just three easy steps:

  1. Download and print the datacard
  2. Grab you gear, get outside, and do the cleanup (Here's some more info to help you organize a safe and effective DIY Cleanup!)
  3. Return your data online

No worries if you can’t make it to the coast right away. Submitting cleanup data from parks, neighborhoods, and waterways close to home will still help you get outside and support the Surfrider Foundation’s environmental mission by adding to a critical citizen science dataset.

Why does the Connecting our Coastline matter?

Where the land meets the sea, our coast includes amazing natural beauty and thousands of years of rich cultural heritage. It is built from ecosystems that provide both essential wildlife habitat and many critical services to human residents. The Massachusetts coast offers opportunities for recreation and enjoyment to both locals and visitors, with coastal tourism and recreation generating more than $3.3 billion dollars in state domestic product and more than 70,000 jobs in 2015.

At the same time, our coastal communities are joined by many of the common challenges that they face on the ‘front line’, including sea-level rise, climate change, plastic pollution, contaminated water due to runoff, unequal access, and threats from offshore fossil fuel drilling and blasting. What can help us make progress on these big problems together?

Perhaps enjoying and learning about a new stretch of our coast and thus inspiring ourselves to action. Maybe making some personal connections in and among our coastal communities as you help with a cleanup. It helps to remind ourselves that the coast and sea should be a treasured resource for all people. And certainly, collecting and building your own stories and experiences to share with others and to amplify a message, so that what you’ve learned does not end with you.

Connecting Our Coastline 2022. We need your help!


For more information OR if you/your organization are interested in participating in Connecting Our Coastline 2022, please contact the Surfrider Foundation Massachusetts Chapter.




*Our List of 'Coastal Communities'

We fully admit that ‘coastal community’ is a bit of a fuzzy term – sometimes, it’s more just a state of mind. Rather than delving too deeply into highly technical scientific or socioeconomic characterizations, we’ve crafted the following list of 66 ‘coastal’ Massachusetts cities and towns for Connecting Our Coastline 2022.

If you have any thoughts, opinions or feel your community has been left out, please get in touch and let us know! We’d be especially open to the idea of modifying the list if your comments are accompanied by a cleanup data report.

The MA Chapter fully understands that nearly everything connects to the ocean eventually, and our work with communities all across this state is a strong indication of this. As long as the ocean means something special to you, embrace your ‘coastal’ state of mind!

  • Aquinnah
  • Barnstable
  • Beverly
  • Boston
  • Bourne
  • Braintree
  • Brewster
  • Chatham
  • Chelsea
  • Chilmark
  • Cohasset
  • Danvers
  • Dartmouth
  • Dennis
  • Duxbury
  • Eastham
  • Edgartown
  • Essex
  • Fairhaven
  • Fall River
  • Falmouth
  • Gloucester
  • Gosnold
  • Harwich
  • Hingham
  • Hull
  • Ipswich
  • Kingston
  • Lynn
  • Manchester-by-the-Sea
  • Marblehead
  • Marion
  • Marshfield
  • Mashpee
  • Mattapoisett
  • Milton
  • Nahant
  • Nantucket
  • New Bedford
  • Newbury
  • Newburyport
  • Oak Bluffs
  • Orleans
  • Plymouth
  • Provincetown
  • Quincy
  • Revere
  • Rockport
  • Rowley
  • Salem
  • Salisbury
  • Sandwich
  • Saugus
  • Scituate
  • Somerset
  • Swampscott
  • Swansea
  • Tisbury
  • Truro
  • Wareham
  • Wellfleet
  • West Tisbury
  • Westport
  • Weymouth
  • Winthrop
  • Yarmouth