Humanity Cares
The Blog
Background reading on the things a cleanup runs into: where shoreline litter comes from, what plastic does once it is in the water, why mangroves matter, and how to spend a morning on an open beach without hurting yourself.
Every Post
Twenty pieces of background reading on ocean plastic, Miami's shoreline, running a cleanup safely, and how giving to a small nonprofit actually works.
Field guide
How to Run a Beach Cleanup Safely
Permissions, the safety briefing, what volunteers should never pick up, how to handle sharps and wildlife, and how to close out a cleanup properly. Written for whoever is organising, not attending.
8 min read
Field guide
What to Bring to a Beach Cleanup
The short list of things that make a two-hour cleanup comfortable and safe, the gear that sounds useful and is not, and what organisers should supply rather than expect volunteers to bring.
7 min read
Volunteering
Do Beach Cleanups Count as Community Service Hours in Florida?
How volunteer service hours work for Florida high school students, what Bright Futures asks for, and how to document a beach cleanup so the hours actually get accepted.
8 min read
Ocean literacy
What Happens to Plastic Once It Reaches the Ocean
A plastic bottle that washes off a Miami seawall does not disappear. Here is what the water, the sun and the salt actually do to it, and why the beach is the last cheap place to catch it.
8 min read
Ocean literacy
Where Beach Litter Actually Comes From
Most of what strands on an urban shoreline never came off a boat. It came off a street. How stormwater, wind and tides move litter from inland to the waterline, and what that means for where you clean.
8 min read
Local ecology
Beach Cleanups During Sea Turtle Nesting Season
Sea turtles nest on South Florida beaches for most of the year. What that means for where volunteers can walk, what they must not touch, and why beach lighting matters more than litter on some nights.
8 min read
Want the story behind the foundation?
Kelly wrote about why she started Humanity Cares, what she saw diving in Indonesia and off South Florida, and why this is not really about the ocean.