Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful is gearing up once again to clean our coastlines and is looking for volunteers like you on Sept. 18 from 8 a.m. to noon at locations throughout the county.

Last year, 3,155 volunteers collected 90,372 pounds of trash at 19 sites along shorelines, rivers and lakes during the 16th annual Florida Coastal Cleanup. If stacked in bags, the volume collected would reach the top of the Empire State Building almost five times.

On an international level, 31,174 volunteers cleaned 1,682 miles and picked up 623,000 pounds of trash.

Cigarette butts were once again the number one item collected in addition to the typical cans, bottles, food wrappers and plastic. Volunteers also found some unfortunate casualties due to people’s carelessness. Fish, birds, crabs and snakes were found entangled in fishing line near Bull Frog Creek in Gibsonton. Our wildlife often gets entangled in fishing line and nets, and 550 pieces of this debris were found countywide during the cleanup.

For a list of locations, visit www.khcbonline.org closer to the event date. For more information on volunteering, becoming a site captain or sponsoring the event, call (813) 960-5121.

To volunteer for the Cleanup in Pinellas County, contact Keep Pinellas Beautiful at (727) 441-6005. In Manatee, the Cleanup is coordinated by Keep Manatee Beautiful, (941) 795-8272.