AmeriCorps Members On The Beach: a Shoe, Rug, Toothbrush and More

On Saturday, a group of AmeriCorps members from the Community Health Center participated in in International Coastal Clean-up day.  Here is what Tasha Germain wrote about the day:

On Saturday, some AmeriCorps members and I headed to Clinton Town Beach with Save the Sound to participate in International Coastal Clean-up day. People participated not only along the coast in CT and NY, but all over the world. We began at 9am with words of encouragement, plastic gloves, garbage bags, and a list to keep track of all the trash we picked up. Plastic bags are one of the most common problems, and last year they picked up 14,000 plastic bags in CT and NY alone. Our team of 5 found many tiny pieces of Styrofoam, bottle caps, straws, cigarette filters, and soda bottles. Some of our unique finds included: 2 rugs, a decomposing shoe, a rusting pipe, a toothbrush, and a pacifier. Our team alone picked up over 50 lbs of garbage! Some of the other interesting items included: a wooden fence, an enormous piece of metal, a car tire, and concrete blocks. As someone who has never done beach clean-up before, I found the extensive amount of garbage we found on Clinton Town Beach alone both surprising and upsetting. I am sure that we had a small but profound impact on the water quality for marine wildlife. Overall, it was the perfect day to be outside on the coast and we spent a fun morning together.