Clean Ocean Action

While many municipalities in the Garden State have tackled the issue on their own, a proposed law introduced recently would implement a statewide ban on the intentional release of balloons into the sky.

Momentum was building in the Garden State earlier this year for a potential statewide ban on single-use items such as paper and plastic bags.

The environmental group Clean Ocean Action has a program, "Rally for the Waterways," working to improve New Jersey's water quality.

Volunteers cleaning up New Jersey beaches last year found everything but the kitchen sink. Oh wait, they found one of those, too.

If signed into law, the fee would begin October 1.

Unfortunately, it keeps coming back.

Enjoying a fountain soda from a beachfront grill at the Jersey Shore, or releasing a balloon into the air at a wedding or charity event, can be deadly...to marine life, that is.

A pair of beach sweeps in the spring and fall, hosted by Clean Ocean Action, gathered more than 218,000 items at more than 70 sites throughout New Jersey.

Plastic waste that washed ashore or was left on the sand by beachgoers will make up to 25 percent of a first-of-its-kind product hitting shelves this summer in France.

More than 5 million pieces of debris have been collected since Clean Ocean Action started holding yearly beach sweeps.