Kaho'olawe Ohana removed between 6-8 tons of debris from a single uninhabited beach on Kaho'olawe. People dump more than 14 billion pounds of garbage each year into the world's oceans. People dump more than 650,000 plastic bottles into the oceans each day. People dump an additional 100,000 metric tons of mono-filament lines and fishing gear into the ocean each year. Worldwide estimates of lost netting translate this amount into anywhere from 12,400 to 135,000 miles annually.
Plastics make up most of the debris collected during beach cleanups.
Cigarette butts were the most abundant debris item collected in 1995. The U.S. produced six billion tons of plastic disposable packaging in 1986. Plastic package manufacturing increases four to six percent each year. The U.S. produces twice as much plastic as it does steel, copper and aluminum - combined. Plastic production has doubled since 1975.