Very few would argue that the 4th of July is considered by many to be one of the best days of the year, not only for its celebration of American Independence but also for the sheer fun of all that celebrating.
By the same token, as a community of beach lovers, July 5th can arguably be considered another of the best days of the year to come to the rescue of our shoreline. Spent fireworks and garbage from parties and bonfires is plentiful. Getting this trash off our beaches not only beautifies the seascape, it also prevents it from getting into our coastal waters, wreaking havoc on fish and wildlife. The obvious benefit is a more beautiful beach, but the more serious benefit is a healthier marine ecosystem that affects us all.
With that in mind, all beach lovers, locals and visitors alike, are invited to join local residents at Westhaven State Park at the South Jetty to help clean up our beaches after the Fourth of July festivities are over. For the past two years, volunteers have successfully removed hundreds of pounds of post-Fourth debris from the shoreline along Half Moon Bay, Westhaven State Park, and south along the beach to the Grays Harbor Lighthouse.
This year we will meet at the west side of the parking lot on Monday, July 5th, at 9:30 a.m. to pick up trash bags and gloves to join the effort. The project is expected to last less than two hours. Washington State Parks provides the materials and takes care of disposal.
Westport is impacted far less than our neighbors to the south where from Grayland into Pacific County vehicular traffic is plentiful and each year the fourth of July proves to be the our coast’s worst enemy. Pacific County’s Grass Roots Garbage Gang is a group of volunteers brought together by Shelly Pollack of Ocean Park in fall 2001. The effort there has now grown to a network of hundreds of volunteers that come together three times each year to clean Pacific County beaches, including July 5th.
Last year their post-Fourth clean up drew over 600 volunteers to sweep Washington’s Long Beach peninsula, collecting over 18 tons of debris that included not only fireworks but garbage left behind at over 200 bonfire sites.
It’s individual volunteers, along with groups such as the Grass Roots Garbage Gang, Coast Savers, and the Pacific 4-Wheel Drive Association, whom many know from their annual fall clean up on the South Beach, that are making a huge difference in keeping our beaches and oceans clean.
To learn about more about keeping our coast clean, visit http://www.coastsavers.org/.
Come on out Monday morning for a post-Fourth walk on the beach to celebrate another one of the best days of year.
By the same token, as a community of beach lovers, July 5th can arguably be considered another of the best days of the year to come to the rescue of our shoreline. Spent fireworks and garbage from parties and bonfires is plentiful. Getting this trash off our beaches not only beautifies the seascape, it also prevents it from getting into our coastal waters, wreaking havoc on fish and wildlife. The obvious benefit is a more beautiful beach, but the more serious benefit is a healthier marine ecosystem that affects us all.
With that in mind, all beach lovers, locals and visitors alike, are invited to join local residents at Westhaven State Park at the South Jetty to help clean up our beaches after the Fourth of July festivities are over. For the past two years, volunteers have successfully removed hundreds of pounds of post-Fourth debris from the shoreline along Half Moon Bay, Westhaven State Park, and south along the beach to the Grays Harbor Lighthouse.
This year we will meet at the west side of the parking lot on Monday, July 5th, at 9:30 a.m. to pick up trash bags and gloves to join the effort. The project is expected to last less than two hours. Washington State Parks provides the materials and takes care of disposal.
Westport is impacted far less than our neighbors to the south where from Grayland into Pacific County vehicular traffic is plentiful and each year the fourth of July proves to be the our coast’s worst enemy. Pacific County’s Grass Roots Garbage Gang is a group of volunteers brought together by Shelly Pollack of Ocean Park in fall 2001. The effort there has now grown to a network of hundreds of volunteers that come together three times each year to clean Pacific County beaches, including July 5th.
Last year their post-Fourth clean up drew over 600 volunteers to sweep Washington’s Long Beach peninsula, collecting over 18 tons of debris that included not only fireworks but garbage left behind at over 200 bonfire sites.
It’s individual volunteers, along with groups such as the Grass Roots Garbage Gang, Coast Savers, and the Pacific 4-Wheel Drive Association, whom many know from their annual fall clean up on the South Beach, that are making a huge difference in keeping our beaches and oceans clean.
To learn about more about keeping our coast clean, visit http://www.coastsavers.org/.
Come on out Monday morning for a post-Fourth walk on the beach to celebrate another one of the best days of year.
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