Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management - CZM

08/27/2026

The #1 marine debris item collected at COASTSWEEP cleanups is cigarette butts. Their filters are made of plastic, which does not biodegrade and can persist in the environment, harming ecosystems and wildlife. Cigarette butts end up on our beaches when they're left behind—or they take the long route, traveling from roads to storm drains, into rivers and streams, and eventually washing ashore. Help keep cigarette butts off our beaches by disposing of them properly, and join a COASTSWEEP cleanup to help remove the ones already there. Learn more at https://bit.ly/4whbbGF

And a big shout out to Keep Massachusetts Beautiful for their COASTSWEEP support and non-stop efforts to clean up Massachusetts communities!

08/25/2026

You may have heard about CZM’s participatory monitoring program, the Marine Invader Monitoring and Information Collaborative (MIMIC). But have you ever seen this monitoring in action?

Each year, CZM travels across our monitoring region to train new and returning MIMIC groups on monitoring protocols and identification of non-native species. This year brought us to numerous, beautiful coastal locations, each with their own unique biological community diversity. While the MIMIC program’s main goal is to track the presence and abundance of non-native species in the long term, it is also an excellent opportunity to connect with local coastal ecosystems!

Thanks to the groups that met with CZM for an in-person MIMIC training this year:
Nantucket - The Maria Mitchell Association Nantucket Field Station
Boston - Stone Living Lab Boston Harbor Now Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park Save the Harbor / Save the Bay
Mashpee - Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
Salem - Salem Sound Coastwatch
Sandwich - Barnstable Clean Water Coalition Maritime Academy
Star Island - Island Rutledge Marine Lab Science Center Company
Duxbury – River Landing (Jones River Watershed Association) Bay Maritime School and South Rivers Watershed Association

For more info on MIMIC, see: https://bit.ly/4xT9MHD

08/20/2026

08/18/2026

Why not make your next day at the beach a COASTSWEEP cleanup? Learn more: https://bit.ly/4whbbGF

08/13/2026

Today, we were happy to be joined by Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper, and Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo for the announcement of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Coastal Resilience Grant and Coastal Habitat and Water Quality (CHWQ) Grant awards as part of the new Environment & Climate One Stop (ECO One Stop) grant application.

Congratulations to this year’s Coastal Resilience grant recipients:
Boston Housing Authority, Chatham, Duxbury Beach Reservation, Falmouth, Hull, Kingston, Revere, Salem, Swansea, The Nature Conservancy, University of Massachusetts Boston, and Wareham

Congratulations also to this year’s CHWQ grant recipients:
Dennis, Ipswich, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and Yarmouth

To see the full list of projects and communities funded, visit the ECO One Stop grants page: https://bit.ly/4zd8UyY

08/11/2026

COASTSWEEP is part of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, with volunteers collecting data to help develop marine debris solutions. Each cleanup is a beach walk wrapped in a scavenger hunt to tally totals and see what weird things you find! Find more information at: https://bit.ly/4whbbGF

08/06/2026

Marine debris is more than an eyesore, and plastic bags can kill sea turtles who mistake them for jellyfish. To help protect the wildlife of the Massachusetts coast, always properly dispose of trash. You can also join a COASTSWEEP cleanup! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3TC5LZm

07/30/2026

COASTSWEEP is CZM’s statewide beach cleanup held from August-November. Sign up to become a local COASTSWEEP coordinator to make sure your favorite coastal spot is covered. CZM provides all the supplies, and you even get a free T-shirt! Find out more: https://bit.ly/4wyEVzZ

07/21/2026

If your lawn is dry, brown, and crunching underfoot, resist the urge to reach for the hose or sprinkler. Instead, consider planting a buffer of native plants. Once established, native buffers require little to no watering, while adding beauty and habitat to your landscape. Your water conservation efforts will also pay off with a lower water bill and the knowledge that you are helping to protect valuable water resources for people and the natural environment.

For more, see https://bit.ly/4bvFm5q