Save the Date: 9/20/2025 Shoreline Sweep

Another Hanford Bay Shoreline Sweep is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 9/20/2025 starting at the beach end of the Moran Road Right-Of-Way. The Shore Sweep will start at 9:00 AM and run until no later than 11:00 AM as usual. Please bring gloves and a bucket to help you collect items on the beach. If it rains that day, then the Sweep will take place the next day, Sunday, 9/21/2025.

This particular sweep will happen on the same day as this year’s International Coastal Cleanup Day. This annual event came into existence 30 years ago when it was founded by the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental agency that works to protect the ocean from the greatest global challenges such as plastic pollution.

Two members of the organization formed an interest in starting a day to bring attention to the ocean’s growing plastic pollution problem. The idea was simple: Go to a local beach with a garbage bag and start picking up trash in order to reduce the amount that would be swept into the ocean by water or wind.

Yet, cleaning beaches wasn’t the only goal of this special day. Another goal was to document and study the type of trash collected during the cleanups. Then using the data collected, report its findings to governments to help them understand the growing problems and suggest ways to deal with them.

As I’m sure most of our readers know, when we have Shoreline Sweeps, all of the collected material is sorted into categories established by the Ocean Conservancy and then reported to that organization for its ongoing evaluation of the trash materials and their impact on the water bodies, the environment. wildlife and people. .

Since the first cleanup in 1986, 349 million pounds of trash has been collected by over 17 million volunteers in 155 countries.

The Ocean Conservancy’s ongoing efforts has inspired the creation of other organizations such as the Alliance for the Great Lakes which is nonprofit organization working to protect the waters of the Great Lakes. For example, it promotes beach cleanups along the shores of the Great Lakes as part of the effort to deal with the plastics pollution problem.

Yet, these efforts are not enough. It is reported by the Conservancy that plastics now pollute all dimensions of the ocean. As we have learned from speakers that we have sponsored at Community Clubhouse events in previous years, the Great Lakes are also polluted with plastics.

As stated by the Ocean Conservancy organization, there is not only the impact of plastics on species living in water but there is increasing concern about the potential threat of plastics to humans.

Reduction in the production and use of plastics, especially single-use disposable products are major ways to help greatly reduce plastics pollution and its negative impacts.