The Australian Marine Debris Initiative is a network of communities, schools, industries, government agencies and individuals focused on reducing the amount of marine debris washing into our oceans.

On every beach around Australia you will find some form of marine debris, from litter left by visitors to international debris, to ghost nets or rubbish washed from far inland through stormwater drains.

The statistics are horrifying with the United Nationals' Regional Seas Program estimating more than 18,000 pieces of plastic in each square kilometre of ocean; and other research estimating more than 8 million tonnes of debris entering the world's oceans each year. The majority of this marine debris is plastic, which due to its chemical makeup is a long lasting material. Plastics, once released into the environment, never biodegrade, instead photodegrading breaking into smaller and smaller pieces of the original item, forever remaining in the environment.

The Australian Marine Debris Initiative is a way that everyone can become involved in both the removal of marine debris and finding solutions to stop the flow of rubbish into our oceans.