TAKING CARE OF OUR
OCEANS AND BEACHES
TAKING CARE OF OUR
OCEANS AND BEACHES
Keep it clean. Support measures to stop dumping of sludge and sewage into harbors, rivers, and streams. Keep it safe. Endorse creation of marine reserves to protect fish and other marine life. Don't touch. When snorkeling or scuba diving, take particular care to look at but not stand on or even touch coral reefs. Stash your trash. Pick up litter, stow plastic bags, reel in fishing line, and avoid six-pack rings. Prevent pollution. Don't dump motor oil, pesticides, or other toxic chemicals into streets, onto the ground, down storm drains, or anywhere else where they can eventually find their way to the oceanDo your part. Participate in local beach clean-up campaigns.
Choose a good day. Some cleanups occur during national "coastweeks" in early fall, others occur in spring or during periods of low tide. Chose a day, probably on a weekend or holiday, when you can attract maximum participation.Get some help. Organize a steering committee or task force to help you plan the event, recruit volunteers, get permits and supplies, and oversee the actual event.Select your site. Consider how accessible and safe the site is for volunteers as well as the kind of impact you can have cleaning up that site as opposed to another.Recruit volunteers. Approach local civic organizations, SCUBA diving groups, boating clubs, environmental organizations, and youth groups.Divide the site into "zones" and assign a "captain" for each zone. Each captain will oversee volunteer efforts in that zone and make sure the zone gets thoroughly cleaned up.Publicize the event. Distribute eye-catching posters, leaflets, and fliers; ask local radio stations to sponsor; and get newspapers to write stories, both before the event and once you have results to report.Collect data. Use a checklist to record information such as the total number of volunteers who participated, the number of miles cleaned, the number of trash bags filled and what they weighed, the total amount (in pounds or tons) of trash collected, and the number and kinds of stranded animals reported.|
According to the federal National Research Council: |
Written by:
Earth Share
. Earth Share, a federation of America's leading non-profit
environmental and conservation charities, promotes environmental
education and charitable giving in workplace payroll deduction
campaigns. For more information about how your workplace can
host its own campaign, please contact us at:
info@earthshare.org or call us at (800) 875-3863.
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