its impacts. beach cleaning volunteers demonstrated more accurate knowledge of the amount and type of waste in the local environment, as well as greater awareness of the causes and consequences of marine litter. for example, hartley et al. (2015) found that students that volunteered to clean a local beach with their school could more accurately identify the primary origins of marine litter and estimate the lifespan of plastic. by highlighting the connection between human behavior and marine litter, beach cleaning increases the likelihood that participants will habitually remove and appropriately dispose of coastal trash, as well as engage in prevention and mitigation efforts. by comparing beach cleaning to other coastal activities- walking on the beach and rock pooling- wyles et al. (2017) aimed to identify the benefits unique to beach cleaning. in doing so, wyles et al. (2017) discovered that individuals that participated in beach cleaning reported a significantly greater increase in their intention to live an environmentally-friendly lifestyle and their awareness of marine issues compared to other test groups after the intervention. wellbeing beach cleaning has been shown to cultivate a positive mood and feeling of fulfillment. wyles et al. (2017) compared the effect various coastal activities- beach cleaning, rock pooling, and walking on the beach- had on well being. the study found that participants experienced an improvement in mood across all three activities, although individuals who participated in beach cleaning reported a statistically significant difference in the sense of meaning they derived from beach cleaning compared to walking on the beach and rock pooling. additional research on the effects of beach cleaning on personal well being has not been conducted. however, the two core components of beach cleaning- spending time by the ocean and volunteering to advance environmental stewardship- have been associated with improved well being, mood, and outlook on life. for example, koss and kingsley (2010) found that individuals who volunteered at protected marine areas in australia experienced greater mental and emotional well being and enhanced connection with the natural environment. while beach cleaning can improve well being, wyles et al. (2017) discovered that participants reported a statistically significant lower level of rejuvenation and relaxation when beach cleaning compared to rock pooling and walking on the beach. lastly, the well being benefits associated with beach cleaning are not only limited to the individuals actively removing trash from the coast but can be enjoyed by community members and beach goers as a whole. wyles et al. (2016) claims that the presence of litter can diminish the psychological benefits of beaches. beach goers in wyles et al. (2016) even described feelings of sadness or anger when confronted with litter, explaining that these emotions emerged because the trash negatively impacts the environment and distracts from the beauty of the landscape. beach cleaning methods a depiction of both mechanical and manual beach cleaning methods being utilized to clean the weston-super-mare beach in somerset, england. the process of beach cleaning requires good management methods, adequate human resources, and funds. solid litters cleaning methods are very different than oil spill cleaning methods. the beach cleaning process may be done using machinery such as sand cleaning machines that rake or sift the sand or/and other chemicals such as oil dispersants. this beach cleaning may be done by professionals company, civic organizations, the military or volunteers such as the great canadian shoreline cleanup and marine conservation society. mechanical vs. manual cleaning there are two types of beach cleaning- mechanical and manual. these methods are also referred to as mechanical grooming and nonmechanical grooming. mechanical beach cleaning is defined as litter and/or organic material removal that relies on the work of automatic or push machinery that rakes or sieves the most superficial layer of sand. manual cleaning involves individuals picking up trash exclusively by hand. the suggested beach cleaning approach incorporates manual and mechanical cleaning as this combination is most cost effective and environmentally sound. environmental concerns piles of wrack on a sandy beach. while not visually appealing, these collections of plants and organic material from the sea are central to beach ecosystems and food chains. wrack cover and biodiversity mechanical cleaning removes organic materials, like seaweed, algae, and plants, alongside anthropogenic waste, such as plastic bottles, cigarette butts, and food packaging, leading to disturbances in the ecosystem and food chain. organic materials naturally found on beaches, also known as wrack, provide critical nutrients and compose the foundation of the food chain. the elimination of this food source impacts organisms ranging from meiofauna to predator birds, resulting in a loss of biodiversity and a decrease in species abundance. for example, dugan et al. studied the relationship between wrack abundance and the richness, abundance, and biomass of macrofauna of fifteen sandy beaches in southern california and found that ungroomed beaches with relatively low levels of wrack had a mean abundance of macrofauna that thrive in the presence of wrack that was almost nine times greater than groomed beaches. additionally, ungroomed beaches with relatively large amounts of wrack supported more than thirteen species of macrofauna that live in and around wrack while groomed beaches supported less than three. furthermore, the presence of two shorebirds was positively correlated with the presence of wrack-associated macrofauna, indicating that beaches with more extensive wrack cover support vertebrates higher in the food chain and create a more rich, biodiverse ecosystem. overall, the presence of wrack allows for detritivores, like isopods and talitrid amphipod, invertebrates like beetles, foraging birds, and scavenging vertebrates like mice, rats, foxes, and badgers to live and feed in that environment. wrack removal and public health while removing wrack from beaches can harm the environment, the presence of excessive wrack can threaten beach goers’ health. collections of wrack decompose quickly which generates a foul odor. this environment attracts unpleasant, and even dangerous microbes and animals. flies and buzzards are drawn to the smell of the decomposing wrack. while a large bird population increases biodiversity, the birds leave their droppings which also increase the density of potentially harmful microbes in the sand. additionally, microbes that thrive in the presence of feces, called fecal indicator organisms, can reproduce in the conditions created by decomposing wrack. wrack can sustain potentially harmful bacteria and fecal indicator organisms like escherichia coli and enterococci, which can cause gastrointestinal illness. in fact, a positive relation between time spent on wet sandy beaches and the incidence of contracting a gastrointestinal illness has been identified. topographic and vegetation alterations groomed beaches are wider, sustain substantially less vegetation, and have fewer and flatter topographic features, like dunes and hummocks, than ungroomed beaches. naturally beaches should have a narrow stretch of sand closest to the ocean that is flattened by the tide below the extreme high tide line. beyond this zone, the land should be composed of vegetated dunes that are infrequently touched by tides. however, mechanical beach cleaning has converted many beaches into much wider expanses of flat sand, most of which remains undisturbed by the tide and void of vegetation. mechanical beach cleaning destroys vegetation, hummocks, and newly-formed dunes, leading to an immediate flattening of the landscape. mechanical cleaning not only damages existing vegetation but deters the growth of future vegetation. dugan and hubbard found that the groomed portions of a beach experienced significantly lower rates of plant survival and reproduction after germination than the ungroomed sections of the same beach. as vegetation abundance and the height and presence of dunes and hummocks decrease, sand transport patterns change in a way that furthers the extent of flattened topography. hummocks, dunes, and vegetation act as obstacles that slow sand movement triggered by the wind. when these features disappear, the formation of future hummocks and dunes becomes more difficult and unlikely. as beaches grow flatter and wider, the abundance and diversity of vegetation decreases further because vegetation requires stable sand dunes to take root and grow. in this way, mechanical beach cleaning triggers a positive feedback loop that exacerbates the flattening and widening of beaches alongside the loss of vegetation abundance and diversity. halting mechanical beach cleaning stops this cycle and can rebuild the damaged topography and lost vegetation. for example, dugan and hubbard observed that four years after stopping mechanical grooming, the san buenaventura state beach recovered 20 to 40 meters of vegetation, formed new hummocks and the beginning stages of sand dunes, improved sand stability, and increased the number of plants that survived beyond germination. best practices a number of best practices for carrying out beach cleaning have been discussed in the literature. combination of mechanical and manual cleaning methods this method allows urban and more intensely used beaches to manage larger quantities of litter while minimizing the environmental impact of mechanical cleaning. in fact, beaches cleaned less than three times a week sustain a level of biodiversity and species abundance that is similar or only slightly lower than beaches that are strictly cleaned by hand. for example, morton et al. (2015) found that mechanical beach cleaning did not affect biodiversity but concede that this likely due to the fact that the beach only underwent mechanical cleaning once to twice a week and had moved wrack from popular sections of the beaches to less commonly visited sites. additionally, stelling-wood et al. (2016) studied ghost crab populations as an indicator species for overall biodiversity on sandy beaches and discovered that the frequency of mechanical beach cleaning was the most influential factor on population size. beaches that were mechanically cleaned less than three times a week housed the highest number of ghost crabs. reduction of quantity of beach litter through educational programs educational programs and volunteering effectively catalyze behavior change and awareness around marine pollution, leading to a reduction in marine debris and a willingness to clean that is present on beaches. more information can be found about the benefits of educational and volunteer programs under the public engagement and beach cleaning header of this page. decreasing the quantity of marine litter makes manual beach cleaning an easier, more effective option, even for urban, frequently used beaches. relocation of collections of wrack to ungroomed or less popular areas of a beach in doing so, the critical nutrient provided by wrack remains in the ecosystem, limiting disruptions to the food chain and ecosystem. oftentimes, the nutrients from wrack will be redistributed to groomed portions of the beaches through wind and waves. for this reason, it is most important that this suggestion be implemented on beaches with consistently low tides. public engagement and beach cleaning there are three primary ways the public can learn about or participate in beach cleaning: educational programs, awareness campaigns, and volunteering. all modes of public engagement can increase awareness of the issue of marine litter, educate participants about marine litter and ocean conservation, and motivate behavior change. when volunteers participate in beach cleaning, they can use mechanical or manual methods. educational programs and awareness campaigns educational and awareness campaigns can be developed by schools or promoted by government. both have effectively enhanced their target audience's knowledge of marine litter, perception of the extent of the issue, and catalyzed behavior change. multiple studies research the impact of service learning programs on students’ level of knowledge accumulation and awareness of both marine litter and broader marine conservation issues. for example, owens (2018) studied the self-reported change in student's perception of their knowledge about ocean conservation and environmental behavior. the study compared the responses of two groups: an undergraduate class enrolled in a seminar course supplemented by a service learning opportunity cleaning beaches and an undergraduate class enrolled in a traditional laboratory-based environmental science course. students who participated in beach cleaning reported a significantly greater perception of knowledge and environmentally-friendly behavior compared to the students in the laboratory-based class. the students who participated in beach cleaning also saw a significantly greater increase in their scores for perceived knowledge and environmentally-friendly behavior compared to the other cohort. educational campaigns can spread knowledge and incite behavior change beyond the target audience. for example, hartley et al. (2015) explains that students who participated in beach cleaning with their school encouraged their friends and family to join them in adopting mitigation and prevention behaviors. group of students from university of vermont volunteering with the north carolina beach buggy association to clean cape hatteras national seashore in north carolina volunteering volunteering improves participants’ awareness