04/26/2008: "‘Thank You’ for Spring Cleaning our Beaches!"

ig_BeachCleanup_2008-1 (71k image)
(Members of 4-H Bits-n-Spurs Club picked up 260 pounds off the beach)

51 volunteers joined the National Parks and Friends of the San Juans sponsors and cleaned South Beach on San Juan Island on Earth Day.

They picked up 660 pounds of garbage including 9 tire floats, a 10 foot length of large hawser roop, a sand filled TV set, 4 large Styrofoam chunks and bags full of myriads of little pieces of plastic and Styrofoam, food wrappers, cigarette butts and lighters, clothes, bits of rope, netting, shotgun shells, etc.

While the majority of the volunteers stuck to the main beach area, 21 members of the Bits-n-Spurs 4-H club (photo above) ventured into the more difficult to access Granny’s and Redoubt coves to the west where cleanups rarely happen. In addition to individuals around the county adopting their favorite beaches, the Soroptimists cleaned Jackson’s Beach – a service they do every three months, the Shaw Is. School cleaned South Beach, Shaw Island, and Nick Teaque of BLM assembled volunteers for several south Lopez Island beach areas.

Throughout the county, individuals and groups, consistently commit themselves to cleaning up our counties beaches and roads. What is striking, however, is that this effort could be repeated every month and we would always have something to pickup.

in addition to litter pickups, other solutions can be used to eliminate the litter problem? The responsibility as citizens to manage our communities well, including managing our garbage is one. It takes a consciousness to not just drop a cigarette butt on the ground, or let wrappers blow away in the breeze. Become a partner in keeping the San Juans Islands clean, beautiful and healthy for all living things. Let’s “Imagine No Litter” together.

Join community in action! For information on beach cleanups contact Jana of Friends of the San Juans at 378-2319, or for road cleanups contact Lori of the Anti-Litter Initiative at 378-4643.