Sep 19, 2008 4:15 pm US/Eastern
90,000 Pounds Of Trash On Mass. Beaches
DUXBURY (WBZ) ―
Massachusetts' beaches are one of the states most valued treasures. Almost 700 beaches scatter the state's shores. With summer nearly over, the beach-goers may be gone, but they've left something behind: thousands of pounds of trash.
WBZ's Mish Michaels visited a beach in Duxbury. A quick survey found a plastic spoon, a tennis ball, Visine, aluminum foil, a Styrofoam cooler and Gatorade bottle in the and.
"Beach trash is one of the biggest problems that we see affecting beaches," said Leslie Ann McGee, director of Coastal Zone Management. "What we are seeing is people leaving basic packaging items behind."
Mish and Leslie went to work collecting what beach visitors left behind. A pink straw, plastic wrap, a rubber tube, a plastic cap and plenty of cigarette butts were among their unwanted treasures - all found within 15 feet of a trash can.
Last year volunteers collected 40,000 cigarette butts on area beaches as part of an annual post-summer cleanup called
Coastsweep.
"Last year we had about 2,000 volunteers and we cleaned up about 125 miles of coastline," McGee said. "We collected about 9,000 straws and containers.
"It all adds up to about 90,000 pounds of trash that we collect every year."
This year's Coastsweep kicks off Saturday, September 20, with cleanup events running through the end of October.
To volunteer at a beach near you, visit the
Coastsweep web site.
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