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Keep Our Beaches Clean | Who doesn’t love spending a hot summer day at the beach with their family or friends? Not only do beaches provide a relaxing outdoor haven for those lucky enough to live near one, but they also serve as places for recreational activities where you, your loved ones, and even your pet dog can enjoy the cool breeze and the warm sun.

While beaches provide us with a space for a weekend getaway, in the larger scheme of things they are much more than that. Beaches are also very important ecosystems that play important environmental roles for their surrounding locales. They provide a home for many species of animals, act as a buffer against tropical storms, help mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change, and so much more.

With this in mind, this article will provide you with 7 important reasons why you should help keep our beaches clean, by outlining the important roles that beaches play in our ecosystem and how regular beach cleanups can help our beaches play these roles effectively.

1. You Help Save Marine Animals

Over the last few decades, humans have become more and more aware of the detrimental effects of their activities on marine life. Plastic waste is, unfortunately, one of the biggest threats to marine species today, as many sea animals consume these waste products or get trapped by them.

As garbage washes up on the shore, this provides us, humans, with the opportunity to remediate some of the negative effects of plastic pollution in our oceans. By cleaning up plastic waste from the shore before the tide pulls it back to sea again, we can help save marine animals by reducing the chances that these animals will come into contact with plastic waste in the future.

2. You Preserve Natural Treasures

Other than being important elements in the natural ecosystem, beaches are beautiful and diverse natural landscapes that attract a lot of people from far and wide. Unfortunately, pollution on beaches takes away from the beauty of these natural landscapes and causes them to become degraded and abused.

By helping to keep our beaches clean you are essentially helping to preserve these natural treasures for future generations to enjoy as well.

3. You Help Keep Toxic Chemicals Out of the Water

One of the most commonly littered items on beaches is cigarette butts. Moreover, this type of pollutant is one of the most common found in oceans. While cigarette butts are indeed small, they can take up to 10 years to fully decompose. In that much time, cigarette butts in our oceans can cause a lot of damage to marine species and ecosystems by contaminating the water with toxic chemicals.

In just an hour of exposure, a single cigarette butt can contaminate about 8 liters of water with dangerously toxic chemicals. Therefore, think about the good you could do simply by picking up and properly disposing of 10 to 20 cigarette butts every time you visit the beach.

4. You Help the Local Economy

Seaside communities attract fishing and tourism during much of the year and this helps to boost the economy. When beaches are clean and beautiful, this attracts many more tourists and in turn, attracts many more small businesses to set up shop on or near beaches. When beaches are dirty and littered, however, tourism tends to die down by a substantial amount.

By helping to keep our beaches clean you are essentially helping your local economy by attracting more tourists, fishers, and businesses to the beach. With a clean enough beach, local businesses like tourism-oriented businesses and scuba diving classes will be able to set up shop, thereby attracting more tourists and visitors.

5. You Create a Safer Environment

We all know that litter makes for an unattractive environment. However, litter on our beaches can also pose a danger to us that many people don’t stop to consider. Metal with sharp edges and small pieces of glass hidden in the sand are a public health hazard as they pose a threat to the safety of beachgoers. Moreover, such items pose a huge threat to animals like pet dogs who may accidentally step on or even swallow these items while at the beach.

Picking up items like this at the beach and disposing of them appropriately can go a long way in making our beaches a safer environment. Just make sure you do not injure yourself while picking up these small pieces of glass and metal.

6. You Help Make Seafood Safer

Many studies have suggested that the average seafood consumer today ends up consuming a lot of microplastics as a result of eating seafood. These plastics and the chemicals in them can accumulate in our bodies over the years and lead to a whole host of health problems.

By keeping beaches clean, especially of plastic waste, you are essentially helping to make seafood safer and healthier for people to consume. So much of our plastic waste ends up in the bellies of marine animals in the form of microplastics, and this is clearly not just dangerous for them, but it is becoming increasingly dangerous for us as well.

7. You Help Maintain Marine Ecosystems

Plastic and chemical pollution in our oceans puts serious strain on marine ecosystems like coral reefs. These ecosystems and marine habitats are essential for the health of thousands of marine species and if the habitat itself gets affected by our pollutants, all the species that depend on that habitat will also be affected.

By helping to keep our beaches clean, you are essentially helping maintain the health and integrity of marine ecosystems and habitats. In turn, the marine species that depend on those habitats will thrive.

Conclusion

Beaches are not just spaces for recreational activity but are important features of the natural environment that house thousands of marine animals and ecosystems. A clean and beautiful beach not only attracts visitors and tourists, thereby boosting the local economy, but it also helps to maintain the health and integrity of our oceans, marine animals, and marine habitats.

As human activity and pollution continue to affect so much of the natural environment, more and more people must start making efforts to fight back against the damage that has already been done by helping to keep our beaches clean. Both Mother Nature and future generations will surely thank you for it.

by Maria A Davidson

We are in business to provide great products for the outdoorsy hikers, campers and their dogs; and to help clean our parks, rivers and oceans for a better planet earth for hikers and their dogs.

Parks Clean

Parks are high-traffic areas in most cities. This means that trash is bound to show up in and around your park and playground.

When discussing ways your family can help clean your local park, don’t overlook a literal cleanup! Picking up trash will make a huge difference in the appearance and vibe of your park. A clean area will encourage others to keep the park pristine. When picking up trash and debris, make sure to wear gloves to protect yourself, and put trash in appropriate receptacles or lawn bags. You can also contact your local trash company to schedule a pickup when you are finished.

Rivers Clean

The storm drain on your street collects the water from your roof, driveway, and sidewalk and funnels it directly in your local lake or river. Nutrients from grass and leaves, pet waste, and fertilizers “enrich” our lakes and streams — feeding algae blooms and harming fish. Chemicals from washing your car in the drive and household chemical spills add up, taking a nasty toll on our favorite swimming areas and fishing spots. Soil can also be picked up by runoff, reducing the clarity of water and hurting fish.

So as you prepare your lawn and garden, here are a few helpful tips to keep our lakes and rivers beautiful and safe for all of us.

Use mulch and vegetation to keep soil from washing away.
Sweep or rake grass and leaves away from street curbs.
Mulch and compost grass clippings and leaves.
Keep paved surfaces to a minimum.
Capture water runoff with a rain garden and rain barrels.
Wash your car on the grass, where the water will get filtered.
Keep chemicals away from storm drains.
Collect your pet’s waste.
Aim your rain-gutter downspouts onto grass.

Beaches Clean (do it for the ocean)

In 2007, the United States Senate and House of Representatives passed the National Clean Beaches Week Resolution to recognize the value of beaches to the American way of life and the important contributions of beaches to the economy, recreation, and natural environment of the United States.

Clean Beaches Week, celebrated annually July 1-7, offers the perfect opportunity to encourage stewardship and volunteerism along our coastlines. But where do you even begin? Follow these tips to get started.

Identify a clean-up site. Choose a place that needs some TLC, making sure that volunteers can safely access the site. Get permission, if needed, for your clean-up event, perhaps from the local parks agency.
Choose a site coordinator. (That might be you!) A beach clean-up takes a lot of work and needs an organized person to keep everything on track before, during, and after the event.
Visit the site in advance. The coordinator will need to know where to set up a volunteer check-in station, where to leave trash and recyclables, and what area(s) volunteers will clean.
Gather supplies. Depending on your location, you’ll need supplies such as trash bags, a first aid kit, hand sanitizer, wipes, and large coolers of water. You should also provide (or ask volunteers to bring) items such as reusable work/garden gloves, reusable water bottles, sunscreen, and bug spray.
Plan how to handle the recyclables. Reach out to recyclers in your area (and perhaps your community’s solid waste departments) to make arrangements for accepting any glass, plastic, and aluminum that you collect.
Line up event partners. Contact local businesses for donations of drinks, food, and supplies. Ask a local solid waste hauler to donate their services for trash removal.
Plan for handling hazardous waste. Determine how you’ll dispose of any medical and sewage waste you might find. One solution: A wide-mouth container with a tight-fitting lid, such as an empty laundry detergent bottle. Clearly label that it contains hazardous waste.
Get volunteers to help. Recruit friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Create an event on Facebook and ask volunteers to sign up online. This will give you an idea of how many people to expect and will help communicate event details.
Stay safe. Be prepared for a variety of health emergencies, from minor cuts and scrapes to heat stroke.
Take photos! Post pics online to share the success of your event and recognize volunteers for their hard work.