Welcome to the Housatonic River Estuary guide, and other publications, can be downloaded from the Housatonic Valley Association website www.hvatoday.org

Partners in Restoring the Coast is a new pamphlet available from the Long Island Sound Study. In CT, call (860) 424-3034 and in NY, call (631) 444-0441 www.longislandsoundstudy.net/habitatrestoration

BEACH CLEANUP WRAPUP

If you were a volunteer on Beach Cleanup Day, you would have been carrying a plastic bag to fill with debris, as well as a pencil and data card to record information about the debris you put into the bag. You would have been joined by well over 10,000 enthusiastic volunteers all over New York State who filled thousands of bags of trash totaling over 256,000 pounds!

The American Littoral Society is a participant in the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), coordinating this monumental project in New York State. The cleanup had its beginnings in 1986 motivated, in part, by concern about the ocean dumping of plastics. Amid growing awareness that marine animals were becoming entangled in discarded plastic and ingesting plastic particles they mistook for food, environmental organizations pressured the U.S. Congress to ratify Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships (MARPOL), banning the disposal of plastics anywhere at sea as well as ocean dumping of other forms of trash. However, our documented data suggests the great majority of debris items on most beaches come from activities on land – much by beachgoers or pedestrians carelessly discarding their trash.

The goal of the ICC is to help people become aware of the role they play in assuring that our shores are clean. Educating the public is a strategy to change their behavior patterns and to understand that every piece of debris represents a litterer. Can we identify some of our own actions that could lead to debris on the beach? Think cigarettes, straws, glass and plastic beverage bottles, food wrappers, bait containers, fishing line, etc.

The cleanup has proven to have an impact on participants – influencing their concept of litter in general and strengthening recycling resolves. It also opens a world of beauty to many inner city school children and scouts who never had the opportunity to visit a beach and learn to appreciate the natural environment.

Everyone can take part in keeping our shores pristine, healthy, and beautiful. Become an advocate for clean beaches and help others to be aware of their actions.