Clean Virginia Waterways:

Working for cleaner water since 1995

Clean Virgina Waterways is an award-winning, statewide, nonprofit organization. We are:

Dedicated to advancing proven policies to reduce plastic pollution and marine debris.
Committed to citizen stewardship of Virginia's rivers, streams, bays, beaches and groundwater.
Affiliated with the Ocean Conservancy
Co-founder of the Virginia Plastic Pollution Prevention Network.
Co-author of the Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan.
Organizer of the International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia since 1995.
Nationally-recognized leader in litter prevention educational programming, litter research and marine debris solution development.

Our Mission:

Clean Virginia Waterways’ mission is to enhance the health of Virginia’s water resources through pollution prevention, education, and stewardship activities involving Virginians from the classroom to the boardroom.

Our Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Statement:

CVW is committed to working for cleaner water in Virginia in a just and equitable way. This includes a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion –all are essential to achieving our mission and vision. Since 1995, CVW has demonstrated in its programming that we can accomplish far more together than alone.

What Clean Virginia Waterways is doing about marine debris:

1. Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan.
Clean Virginia Waterways, working closely the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, conducted research and wrote the "Virginia Marine Debris Reduction Plan." It is the first marine debris plan on the east coast.

2. Annual river and beach cleanup events and data collection

3. Research & Publications. CVW has done extensive research on several types of aquatic/marine debris including cigarette butts, balloons, and beverage and food containers.

4. Litter prevention

5. Education and Outreach

Meet the Team