Anyone who walks the beach these days is confronted by the appalling amount of trash in view. Whether in Florida or New York, we’ve seen everything from parts of ships washed ashore to fresh melon rinds and beer cans discarded by sloppy beach-goers and boaters. We do our bit to collect some of it, but the amount out there is really staggering.

Here’s a company on a mission to help clean up the situation – United by Blue, founded by Brian Linton, (Chief Trash Collector). Passionate about the ocean and its natural inhabitants, Linton created a sustainable business based on a line of apparel and jewelry whose sales support ocean conservation & cleanup: “For every product sold, UBB removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways through company organized and hosted cleanups. Using this business model we are on pace to collect 100,000 pounds of trash by the end of 2011, and 1 million pounds by the end of 2012.”

In business since May 2010, United By Blue offers quality goods — organic cotton, stone washed tees; jewelry and organic cotton beach totes all designed with the blue movement in mind. Support sustainable seafood, outlawing shark finning, conserving coral reefs and cleaning up the beaches – when you make a purchase @ unitedbyblue.com you become part of the solution.