The shores of our communities got a little bit cleaner on Saturday, Sept. 19, as nearly a thousand people from around the island took part in the International Cleanup Day. There were six total cleanups happening on the north shore of Nassau County, including at Sagamore Hill National Historical Park, Teddy Roosevelt Park, Centre Island Beach, Stehli and West Harbor Beaches in Bayville and West Neck Beach in Cold Spring Harbor.
According to the website, www.oceanconservancy.org, 560,000 volunteers in 91 countries picked up more than 16 million pounds of trash in the International Coastal Cleanup that took place in 2014.
In Nassau County, it was a collaborative effort between Friends of the Bay and local baymen to help pick up and remove trash from our local beaches. The event took place at each location from 8 a.m. to noon.
“This is an effort that got started years ago and we have gotten more people and groups involved every year,” said Jaime Van Dyke, chairperson of the Nassau County Soil & Water Conservation District. “Each group involved receives trash bags and a tally sheet and at the end of the day they tally up the total amount of trash collected and specifically what kind of trash. Those sheets are combined into a master sheet that is then sent on to the New York Littoral Society and then onto the Oceanconservancy.org in Washington D.C.”
Some of the items headlined on the sheets included the categories: most likely items, fishing gear, packaging materials, personal hygiene items, tiny trash and unexpected items.
In the 2014 master sheet tally, there were at total of 987 cigarette butts picked up, 424 plastic bottle caps, 118 plastic bags, 124 pieces of plastic/foam packaging material and 1,342 pieces of glass from area beaches.
Doug Rodgers was one of the bay men who helped clean the beach at Theodore Roosevelt Park.
“The baymen come out and help and do some of the heavy lifting including picking up items such as telephone poles, tires, pieces of wood and old docks from the harbor,” said Rodgers. “A lot of it is for the safety of the boaters.”
A record number of groups got involved with the cleanup this year, including the Oyster Bay High School Interact Club, the high school volleyball team, Au Pair International and students from Syosset, Hicksville and Locust Valley High Schools. Students from Long Island University also helped with the cleanup as part of earning credits toward their degree.
