About 4,000 volunteers are expected to don sunglasses, apply sun block, grab a trash bag and head for waterways Sept. 15 for the 20th Annual Coastal Cleanup in Baldwin and Mobile counties, according to Amy King, program coordinator for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The Baldwin County Commission agreed Tuesday to provide roll-off containers at six Baldwin County coastal sites, as well as free landfill disposal of debris.

Since 1987, more than 48,000 volunteers have removed nearly 1 million pounds of marine debris from Alabama’s coastline, King said.

“We are looking for all the volunteers we can get,” King said. “We have been lucky to get volunteers statewide. Youth and service clubs in Montgomery, Huntsville and across the state have put this on their yearly calendars for philanthropic activities.”

Participants range in age from kindergartners up. Volunteers are asked to bring gloves, hats, sun screen and wear outdoor clothing, she said. Trash bags and other supplies will be available during the cleanup which is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon.

Coastal areas of Baldwin and Mobile counties have been divided into zones. Volunteers will register, pick up supplies and be assigned to specific areas, King said.

Data cards will be distributed to volunteers to log locations and descriptions of trash, which later will be weighed. That information will be forwarded to the Ocean Conservancy, international sponsor of the event, which will return data in an annual report.

“We can use that information in an educational campaign,” King said. “For instance, how many cigarette filters we picked up and the effect on the environment.”

Zone captains will be stationed at the following locations in Baldwin County:

Boggy Point, May Day Park in Daphne, Fairhope Municipal Pier, 5 Rivers Delta Center at Bartam Landing on the Causeway, Fire Station No. 1 at Fort Morgan Peninsula;

Gulf Shores Public Beach at the West Second Street entrance, Gulf State Park Beach Pavilion, Pirate’s Cove in Josephine, Ono Island Boat Ramp, Orange Beach at Cotton Bayou Public Beach, Perdido Bay (call for directions,) Holiday Harbor Marina at Perdido Key, Weeks Bay (call for directions,) and Wolf Bay Lodge.

Mobile sites are:

Bay Front Park at Alabama Port, Chickasabogue Park Information Center, Cadillac Square at Dauphin Island, Luscher Park at Dog River, Fowl River (call for directions,) Mobile Bay Causeway boat launch;

Theodore Industrial Canal (call for directions,) and McNally Park at West Mobile Bay.

For more information, call King at (251) 621-1216 or Jim Ransom, director of Baldwin County Solid Waste Department, at (251) 972-6878; or email King at amy.king@dcnr.alabama.gov.