Clean Virginia Waterways of Longwood University and the Virginia Aquarium are conducting a two-year study about balloon litter in Virginia. See more from their release:

How can you help with the VA Balloon Litter Study?   Whenever you find a balloon anywhere in Virginia, please tell us about it! We have a simple and quick survey you can fill out at: https://sites.google.com/site/virginiaballoonstudy/   In addition to recording where you found the balloon(s), we are interested in knowing if the balloons you find are latex or “Mylar;” if they are burst or deflated; if they have plastic ribbons or other attachments; if they have any writing on them; and even what color they are. Please take a minute to be a citizen-scientist and help us collect valuable data.

Keeping trash out of our waterways and ocean: There are more than 180 river and beach cleanup events in September and October in Virginia — please find a cleanup near you by going to http://www.CleanupVirginia.org/ This weekend (Sept 15 and 16), you can join cleanup events in Arlington, Fairfax, Norfolk, Bath County, Middlesex County, VA Beach, Richmond, Abington, Chincoteague, White Stone, and Algonkian Park in Loudoun.

Last year more than 6000 volunteers kept 295,256 POUNDS of plastic and trash out of Virginia’s rivers, bays and our world’s ocean as part of the International Coastal Cleanup in Virginia — Please join us at a cleanup this fall, or signup to organize your own cleanup.