Rhode Island Clean Marina Program

Removing marine debris — REMOVING MARINE DEBRIS

Trash skimmers can help marinas prevent the spread of plastic litter and debris.

OUTREACH & EDUCATION

Help educate guests on the impacts of plastics in our waters and shorelines.

REDUCING SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

Together we can help reduce plastics in oceans by significantly reducing, and where possible completely eliminating, single use plastics in marinas.

volunteers cleaning up the shoreline — SUPPORTING SHORELINE CLEANUPS

Marinas can bring together local community groups and individual volunteers to coordinate shoreline cleanups.

SWITCHING TO REUSABLES

Making the change to reusable cups, straws & plates is not only trendy - it's better for our environment!

Did you know that eight million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year? That’s a whole garbage truck per minute – and 80 percent of that comes from land-based sources. It means that if no action is taken, the ocean will contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

In collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association (RIMTA), and Save the Bay, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) developed the Clean Marina Program in 2007. Clean Marina is a voluntary program that allows marinas to be recognized for their pollution prevention best practices and sustainability initiatives.

The program was relaunched in 2020, again through CRMC in collaboration with RIDEM, RIMTA, Rhode Island Sea Grant, and the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center, to make it more industry-friendly and forward-facing. RIMTA is now the point of contact for the program, with a less cumbersome and paperwork-heavy certification process.

If you would like to certify a Rhode Island marina, or if you have any questions about the program, please contact info@rimta.org. To see the list of certified Clean Marinas, please visit the RIMTA Clean Marina Program Page. For more information, please visit the CRMC Clean Marina Program Page.

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