Land-based litter accumulates on coastlines and in the ocean

The coast as downstream sink

Coastlines and the ocean receive litter generated far inland: items dropped on streets wash through storm drains and rivers to the sea, and beach litter is left directly. The overwhelming majority of recorded marine debris originates on land, and once at sea it disperses across vast areas and depths, making recovery far harder than prevention.

Specific harms

Marine litter kills and injures wildlife through entanglement and ingestion — hundreds of species are affected — and fragments into microplastics that enter food webs. Coastal litter also damages tourism economies and fisheries and is costly for coastal municipalities to manage.

Why this is a distinct facet

The harm lands in a shared, trans-boundary commons fed by many upstream sources. The coast is where consequences are most visible and where large-scale volunteer effort and standardised monitoring have concentrated — warranting its own facet with approaches suited to that geography.