One of the lingering effects of Japan's tragic 2011 tsunami is 1.5 million tons of debris floating across the Pacific Ocean and expected to wash up on West Coast beaches over the next year or more.

Right now volunteers on Washington state beaches are trying to clean up the first wave of this debris, mostly pieces of foam insulation or what appears to be Styrofoam.

Volunteer groups such as the Grassroots Garbage Gang on the Long Beach Peninsula have long been commited to keeping trash off the beach, and their task takes on Herculean proportions in the next year. The Washington State Department of Ecology has set aside $100,000 for debris disposal costs, and other officials in Oregon and Washington are developing plans to help volunteers.

Here's another idea: Volunteer.

The Grassroots group holds three cleanups a year with the next one on July 5 (expect lots of fireworks debris as well as the new sea foam). Find out more at coastsavers.org and noaa.gov.