For the last three decades, the Northcoast Environmental Center has been hosting Coastal Cleanup Day, a day when people gather to pick up trash before it makes its way into the ocean.
Though the NEC was sponsoring beach cleanups starting in the late 1970s, Coastal Cleanup Day is now a statewide event sponsored by the California Coastal Commission. Over 1.6 million volunteers have removed over 26 million pounds of trash statewide over the past three decades. Last year alone, over 74,000 volunteers cleared more than 800,000 pounds of trash from shorelines and waterways — all in a matter of hours.
This year, Coastal Cleanup Day will look a little different. In order to maintain the safety of the community, Coastal Cleanup Day will now be held every Saturday in September instead of a single large event. Instead of having site captains, individuals or groups from the same household will participate in their own neighborhood cleanup and are encouraged to wear masks, reusable protective gloves and use trash pickers.
Participants are encouraged to help clean the coast by sweeping through their neighborhoods and local parks, creeks, streams, rivers and the coast (where accessible) to help prevent single-use plastic items and other litter from polluting the environment and flowing into the ocean.
There is also a much stronger focus on education and data collection for coastal cleanups this year. Citizen science is an important part of coastal programs at the NEC. Coastal Programs staff and volunteers track marine and neighborhood debris to find local waste patterns (what kind of trash is being found and where) to better advocate for waste reduction solutions in the community. To participate in NEC citizen science data collection, download the NOAA Marine Debris Tracker app.
“With the pandemic causing an increase in single-use items, it is more important than ever that we participate in debris removal” said Casey Cruikshank, NEC Coastal Programs coordinator. “My dream for this year’s month long Coastal Cleanup event is to offer an extended opportunity for our community to respect and connect with nature. Coastal Cleanup is about more than just removing debris from our beaches. It’s about marine debris data collection, addressing waste patterns, enjoying a healthy lifestyle and learning more about the planet that sustains us.”
For more information about how to safely contribute to this citizen science data collection project, visit yournec.org/CCD2020.
"now" - Google News
August 16, 2020 at 04:43PM
https://ift.tt/3atoH1H
Coastal Cleanup Day now Coastal Cleanup Month - Eureka Times-Standard
"now" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35sfxPY
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Coastal Cleanup Day now Coastal Cleanup Month - Eureka Times-Standard"
Post a Comment