Beach Cleanup - Scusset Beach at the Scusset Beach State Reservation

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October 25, 2009 Beach Cleanup on Scusset Beach
NECWA staff and friends had a very successful beach cleanup this morning and had a lot of fun as well. Starting at 9 am, everyone met at Scusset Beach State Reservation to begin a two hour cleanup effort. Present were NECWA staff, student interns and their families both young and old. 

This cleanup effort was part of the COASTSWEEP program. Volunteers throughout Massachusetts turn out in large numbers each year for COASTSWEEP, the statewide beach cleanup sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and coordinated by the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston. 

COASTSWEEP is part of the International Coastal Cleanup organized by The Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC. Participants all over the world collect marine debris and record the types of trash they collect. This information is then used to help reduce future marine debris problems.

To learn more about Coastsweep and their accomplishments,go to http://www.coastsweep.umb.edu/
 

As part of this cleanup effort, participants not only pick up trash and other types of debris on the beach, but they also record these items on specially prepared data sheets. And at the end of the event, trash bags containing those items collected over the course of the cleanup were weighed to provide an estimate as to the extent of this human-created problem. 


The most unusal items that were collected today were an ottoman and a tire. The tire was buried deeply into the sand, but that didn't detour the youngest participants of our cleanup effort. Merrick and Jamie took it upon themselves to extract this tire from the sand and worked hard to accomplish this goal. These boys spent a good half an hour digging out the tire using just their hands and a small toy shovel they found on the beach. At last, sweet success! And what a great feeling everyone had as they carried this tire back to the collection area. 

A successful morning for everyone involved. We were able to collect over 50 pounds of garbage from this beach and had a fun time doing it. Just being outside on such a beautiful day was wonderful. Thanks to all who participated in this cleanup effort including Pat, Nick, Leah, Belinda, Merrick, Michael, Krill, Jonah and Jamie.

This cleanup effort was a collaboration with Capt. John Boats out of Plymouth, MA (www.capt.john.com). We hope to make this fall cleanup an annual event so please join us next October. Marine debris is one of the greatest threats to many different types of marine wildlife. Beach cleanups are just one way that we can try to tackle this growing problem.

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