York Town News
Cleaning up the coastline
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Students in Libby Bacon's science classes at York High School were among volunteers from across town and across the state taking part in the Maine Coastal Program's Coastweek from Sept. 16 through 23. Pictured are York High School students Nick Foster, Kerrin Buckley and Bridget Rhinehart at work on Long Sands Beach collecting and cataloguing the garbage and pollutants that litter the beach and plague marine animals.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK BEACH - What do 1,935 cigarette butts, 300 bottle caps and lids, 224 food wrappers and containers, 209 pieces of rope and 132 paper and plastic bags have in common?
They represent just the top five types of garbage collected from Long Sands Beach last week by the students in Libby Bacon's science classes at York High School.
The summer is officially over, but in the last days before the season of sun, surfing and swimming passed into fall, these teens were among an array of community volunteers out in force to clean up local beaches.
For the second year in a row, Bacon's students took part in a Coastal Cleanup as part of Maine Coastweek, which is considered the largest single voluntary event in the state.
During their regular class times, throughout the academic week ending on Friday, Sept. 22, Bacon and her students walked from York High School to Long Sands Beach - rain or shine - with plastic gloves covering their hands, clipboards for collecting data and plastic bags for collecting trash.
The students chronicled what they found, bringing to life their marine biology studies as they witnessed, firsthand, the amount of debris a summer season can create on a beach - even when regular cleaning of that beach occurs.
On Thursday afternoon, Bacon's students were in small groups collecting and cataloguing garbage along one portion of Long Sands Beach in the area between Webber Road and the Sun and Surf Restaurant.
"I want to do anything I can to help this beach," said Sara Demos, who was working with fellow student Ariel Martin gathering debris. "This is a good thing. A lot of us are very environmentally focused."
Sara and Ariel said they were stunned by some of the items that had been discovered on the beach, and by the sheer number of cigarettes strewn there.
Ariel explained that their data would be sent to Augusta along with the findings of volunteers from across the state, to help the Maine Coastal Program identify the main sources of such pollution and to work to find solutions.
Meanwhile, their classmates Robert Cook, Jason Roy and Doug MacLellan discovered the most shocking piece of garbage on the beach that afternoon.
"It was an IV bag," Jason said.
Doug described some of the other items found on this community beach, from cigarettes and broken lobster traps to balloons.
"We've found a lot of cigarette butts," Robert agreed, "and I didn't expect an IV bag."
Jason said it seems that the garbage builds up on the beach over the summer months, and Robert added that volunteer opportunities like this should happen more often.
"It's giving back to the community," Jason agreed.
For Bridget Rhinehart, Nick Foster and Kerrin Buckley, the sheer number of cigarette butts they found in a small area of beach over just a matter of minutes was almost as shocking as the presence of an IV bag on the beach.
"The amount of cigarette butts is really surprising," Bridget said, taking notes on a clipboard as her group continued gathering and counting items.
Kerrin pointed out that they could not take a step without discovering more cigarettes.
"It's ridiculous," Nick said, stooping down to pick up five cigarette butts just at his feet.
Kerrin and Bridget agreed.
"That's 54 cigarettes in 20 minutes, and we're just one group," Bridget said, noting the data on her clipboard.
According to the Maine Coastal Program, those findings match a statewide trend.
"Cigarette butts continue to be number one on our dirty dozen list," MCP officials noted in a description of annual Coastweek efforts. "Some of these and other pieces of debris are the result of careless beachgoers, boaters, fishing vessels and ships. But another portion of it is washed from roads, yards and parking lots into storm drains, streams and rivers, which then flow to the sea. The Ocean Conservancy uses our data to help identify the sources of marine debris and to find solutions for this ugly and dangerous garbage."
And while the top five offenders from the York High School efforts were such common items as cigarette filters, bottle caps, food wrappers, rope and bags, the students reiterated that there were also pieces of garbage on York's beaches that were - to use their description - even more disgusting.
"I'm glad I'm wearing gloves," Nick said.
In addition to detracting from the beauty of Maine's beaches, Bacon's students were quick to point out the threats such litter poses to marine animals. In class, Ariel explained, the students have learned of the dangers of animals eating or being trapped in such items as plastic six-pack rings or even old fishing lines.
Coastweek has been a Maine effort for about 20 years and other York students and community members were also slated to take part, including teams from Brixham Montessori Friends School and Herne Schools of Discovery.
"They see what's on the beach and how important it is to be doing this," Bacon said of her students' reactions to the experience.
For their part, those taking part in Coastal Cleanup on Thursday voiced one shared opinion of the experience. That view was expressed, as Nick put it, in the words: "It should be done more often… once a year is definitely not enough."
Want to help? The Maine Coastal Program offers suggestions for making each day a Coastal Cleanup. Those tips include to pack lunches in reusable containers; buy items made from recycled materials with little or no packaging; recycle whenever possible, as many items picked up during Coastal Cleanup are recyclable; avoid foam and plastic cups, which pose a serious hazard to marine life; substitute paper, cloth and other recyclable materials for plastic bags and wrap sandwiches in waxed paper, and avoid drinks packaged with six-pack rings or be sure to cut and recycle six-pack rings.
For more on keeping local beaches clean, visit http://www.state.me.us/spo/mcp.
