A conservation group says volunteers collected nearly 9 million pounds of trash from coastlines around the world during a cleanup campaign last year.
In a report released Tuesday, the Ocean Conservancy says the garbage was collected by nearly 600,000 volunteers who scoured more than 20,000 miles of coastline on Sept. 17 for the 2011 International Coastal Cleanup.
The top five types of trash found during the annual cleanup effort were cigarettes, plastic bottles, beverage lids, plastic bags and food containers.
The report says volunteers found 94,000 balloons, 267,000 items of clothing and 940,000 pieces of food packaging.
The group says thousands of marine mammals, sea turtles and birds are injured or killed by ocean trash every year.
Experts warn the Pacific Coast could soon also be hit with debris from the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last year.
