From the open Pacific to your neighborhood pond
Team Ocean Foundation is dedicated to cleaning up the world's waters and helping solve the plastic and garbage problem, so people have clean water to drink and wildlife has a healthy place to live.
Our mission
The rain that fills a backyard creek eventually finds its way to a river, a lake, a reservoir, and the sea. Plastic and garbage travel the same path. Team Ocean Foundation exists to break that chain: to remove the waste already in our waters and to help keep new waste from getting there in the first place.
Our work spans the whole watershed, from the vast open ocean to the pond down the street, because clean water isn't a far-away problem. It's a local one, everywhere.
What we focus on
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vast area of floating plastic debris between Hawaii and California, is one of the clearest signs of how much waste reaches the sea. We support efforts to clean it up and to stop the flow at its source.
Much of the plastic in the ocean starts its journey on land. Cleaning rivers, streams and lakes intercepts trash before it travels downstream.
Reservoirs and freshwater sources supply drinking water to communities around the world. Keeping them clean protects public health.
Fish, birds, turtles and marine mammals can mistake plastic for food or become entangled in it. Clean water means a safer home for animals.
Big change starts close to home. Local ponds, canals and beaches are where every one of us can make a visible difference.
Why it matters
Plastic breaks into smaller and smaller pieces that can linger in water for many years, entering the food chain and the water we rely on. Garbage in waterways harms wildlife, spoils the places we swim and fish, and threatens the freshwater that communities depend on.
The good news: every cleanup, every piece of litter picked up, and every person who learns to care for the water helps turn the tide.
Water safety
Caring for the water also means caring for the people in it. Trained lifeguards keep swimmers safe at pools, beaches and lakes. Lifeguard-Pro offers lifeguard certification and lifeguard instructor courses for people ready to step up.
Lifeguard-Pro · Lifeguard certification
Learn rescue skills, CPR and first aid, and gain the confidence to keep swimmers safe at pools, waterfronts and beaches.
Lifeguard-Pro lifeguard certification →
Lifeguard-Pro · Lifeguard instructor
Turn your skills into a profession. Train and certify the next generation of lifeguards and lead water safety in your community.
Lifeguard-Pro lifeguard instructor course →Get involved
Pick up litter at your neighborhood pond, creek or beach. Bring a bag and gloves, and leave it cleaner than you found it.
Switch to reusable bottles, bags and containers. Less plastic used means less plastic that can reach the water.
Share what you learn about clean water with friends, family and your community. Awareness is where every cleanup begins.
Being safe around water lets you enjoy and protect it. Consider lifeguard training with Lifeguard-Pro.