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Goal for Dive site 1:
This was a effort to accomplish two goals. First we were to help
the US Forest service clean up the Butcher Jones Beach area, which is a
grueling weekly chore for the group of officers since the visitor have a
tendency not to clean up after themselves for some reason. Second, we
wanted to assess how much litter was located in the water due to the high
concentration of people that visit this beach each weekend.
Process:
Two teams to assist in the cleanup, one land based and the other in the water.
Remove as much litter on the land using plastic bags and the underwater cleanup
team will perform the same process utilizing mesh bags and burlap sacks. Photograph the site to record our data both
on land and underwater.
Quantity of divers:
Five divers on this assignment
Seven land based people on assignment
Results:
The water based assessment and cleanup results were better than we
expected. We only collected one bag of aluminum cans, which is
approximately 200 pieces. The overall area we covered was much larger
than previous assessments/cleanups and overall the water area was relatively
clean.
The land based team had their hands
full....literally! Everything from milk containers to baby diapers and
even a plastic palm tree. We thought about keeping the palm tree as a
reminder but felt it better to dispose of it.
Follow up:
Since Butcher Jones Beach water area was not a problem spot, this
area will be assessed again in six months to determine how the remaining summer
months effect the accumulation on a litter in the water.
As for the land based area we would like to see
more people take responsibility for their own actions when they come to the
beach for weekend festivities. Even though there are no trash receptacles
in the immediate area for people to dispose of their rubbish, that is no reason
not to take a trash bag with them and clean up after themselves.
If a few trash receptacle were added in areas it
might help to localize the littering problems that exist. Having a close
place to throw away trash would be less effort and hopefully motivate people to
make an attempt to keep their area clean. This would also help US Forest
Service crew cleanup areas faster so they can focus on other tasks.
Please see the
links below for photographs of the litter collected that day.
Click here
for Details about the second Assessment site - Pebble Beach
• Main Category • Volunteers - May 17, 2003 • Cleanup Sites - May 17, 2003 • Litter Photos - May 17, 2003 •
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