Some Of The Grossest, Strangest Stuff Found On NJ Beaches In 2023

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — Where can you find a loveseat, a Christmas wreath and an area rug?

Apparently, on New Jersey beaches.

Yes, all of those items and more were found in Jersey Shore beach clean-ups last year led by non-profit Clean Ocean Action (COA).

This week, Clean Ocean Action released their annual Beach Sweep Report. In it, they list the 170,711 pieces of trash found on NJ beaches last year. Read their 2023 report here.

Clean Ocean Action says they release the findings — some of which are very gross — to encourage companies and volunteers to take part in their beach sweeps, which start back up again next Saturday, April 13.

Corporate sponsors of their beach sweeps are Bank of America, Hackensack Meridian Health, Wakefern Food Corporation/ShopRite and Vantage Apparel. Monmouth County sponsors are Kearny Bank Foundation, Bayshore Recycling and Target.

“COA’s impact is undeniable, from visibly cleaner coastlines right here at my local beach in Sandy Hook, to healthier marine life and safer public swimming areas,” said Alberto Garofalo, president at Bank of America New Jersey. “Our team is ready to roll up our sleeves alongside other volunteers and help make this year’s Sweeps another success.”

Last year, 3,664 people volunteered to remove trash from NJ beaches at 75 locations. Here's just some of what they found:

• A small refrigerator
• A loveseat
• A 1960s manufactured dinosaur toy
• A pregnancy test
• Plastic spider
• 10 ft of rope
• 2 ft. heavy tube
• 35 lb. lead pipe
• 4-foot long patio cushion
• 4-foot long metal car bumper
• 8x10 area Rug
• A Dollar Bill
• A credit card
• Gift Card
• Lottery Ticket
• Ring
• Action Figure
• baby doll
• baby Yoda
• Six pineapples
• A comic book
• Kids' sliding board
• pack of crayons
• plastic sword
• Voodoo Doll
• Water Gun
• Whoopie Cushion
• A half-eaten bagel
• Airplane bottles of alcohol, empty
• An apple core
• bag of Cheetos
• Banana Peel
• Beef Jerky Bag
• Beer & Soda Cans
• Cantaloupe Rind
• Chicken Bone
• Clementine
• Coconut
• Cold Cut Bags
• Fish Oil
• Food Fryer
• Fortune Cookie
• Pancake Mix Carton
• Pet Food Can
• Pizza boxes
• Tuna Fish Can
• Valentine’s Day chocolate box (did someone throw it into the ocean?)
• A jock strap (yes, really, we wish we were kidding)
• A kid's winter coat
• Car's AC Filter
• Car's Air Compressor
• Car Antenna
• Anti-Freeze containers
• Car Battery
• Car tire rim
• Child Car Seat
• Keys
• Three oil cans
• Blueprints to a House
• A toothbrush
• A dead rat
• a dead seagull
• Lots of dead fish
• a dead sea turtle
• a dead puffer fish

Most notably, the Beach Sweeps data was used as evidence to support passage of New Jersey's relatively new law that outlaws plastic bags from stores, which went into effect May 4, 2022. The law bans all plastic bags from ALL stores, paper bags from large stores, foam plastic (e.g., Styrofoam) food containers and limits plastic straws upon request.

NJ's plastic-bag ban was somewhat controversial when it started. However, in the first five months of the law coming into effect, the New Jersey Food Council estimated that 3.44 billion plastic bags and 68 million paper bags were eliminated from the waste stream. By May 2023, these numbers increased to an estimated 5.5 billion single-use plastic bags and 110 million paper bags, said COA.

Want to help clean up NJ beaches in 2024? Interested volunteers are encouraged to pre-register here or at CleanOceanAction.org