Clinton Beach Park Event
Saturday September 14, 2024 9:30-11am
Clinton Beach Park, Whidbey Island
Parking is available across the road and at the Clinton Park and Ride.
Please RSVP so we know to expect you! Space will be limited.
So simple; a cleanup can happen anywhere, anytime! Learn safe and simple ways to love this amazing environment by joining us at Clinton Beach on Saturday September 14, 2024.
Whidbey Watershed Stewards is hosting a cleanup at Clinton Beach – our friends from Puget Soundkeeper Alliance will provide us with the proper supplies and guidance to proceed safely while cleaning up and keeping track of what we find.
We would love to have your help!
Meet us at the park September 14 – wear sturdy shoes, bring your love for the outdoors, your passion for protecting Whidbey Island and some curiosity to see what you might find!
When you arrive we will be sure you get the supplies and encouragement that you need to spend a little time searching out and safely picking up any trash that has found its way to this lovely corner of Whidbey Island!
You are welcome to bring your favorite gloves and/or receptacles, but we will be supplying the tools needed to clean up, along with some guidelines and support. We will ask you to keep track of what is picked up using a provided data sheet. When you feel that you have completed your search you will report your findings, compare with what others have found and weigh your trash.
Once everyone has finished for the day, the totals and data will be combined, and that information will be sent to the Ocean Conservancy. Our data and similar data from cleanups from all around the world are combined for International Coastal Cleanup month, when the Ocean Conservancy encourages international communities to get involved! This snapshot of information from these cleanups is used to help us understand not just what and how much trash is out there on our shorelines, but this is also helpful for creating policies – some findings help to identify and track sources of debris and trash – that can help our global community as we work to get control of the trash that continues to grow and affect our environment. We look forward to seeing you there – or on the beach for your own cleanup!
Post Event Report:
On Saturday September 14, 2024 Whidbey Watershed Stewards got down and dirty! 10 dedicated souls gathered at the Clinton Beach and Park for a 2 hour beach cleanup. With a break in the rain and support/supplies from Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, our volunteers found plenty of trash on what — at least in passing — appeared to be a rather clean and pristine beach! Amazingly, most of what was collected was very small; broken bits of plastic, cigarette butts, pieces of food wrappers, painted woodchips and some unexpected items: one puzzle piece, a luggage tag, rubber cane tip and a tube of toothpaste! All items were documented and the data is being submitted to the Ocean Conservancy for their annual International Coastal Cleanup report.
(Quick safety notes for those inspired to do your own cleanup - wear gloves, don’t reach into spaces that you cannot see, don’t pick up anything sharp/potentially dangerous without a plan/assistance and proper equipment, and do not open/empty containers that you find partially/fully filled, as you have no way of knowing what is inside!)
For those of you with an appreciation for the details here is a quick breakdown of our findings of the day:
Cigarette butts: 156
Plastic wrappers: 48
Straws: 10
Plastic lids: 11
Foam pieces: 28
Plastic pieces: 141
Foil pieces: 24
Fishing gear (mostly fishing line under 2feet long): 19
Packaging materials: 35
Tiny pieces – under 2.5cm/0.9inch: 486+
The Bad/Ugly: (the focus of our cleanup ended out being on plastic)
Plastic alone makes up a good 80% of all marine pollution and scientists with the EPA estimate nearly all plastic that has been created by humans still exists today. Plastic takes 500-1,000 years to degrade; mostly doing so by breaking down into smaller pieces that continue on in the environment indefinitely. Plastic debris is harmful to wildlife directly and indirectly by being ingested, entangling, or causing infections, by spreading/supporting invasive species and harming ecosystems. The tiny microplastics, that plastic degrades down to, are harmful as they enter the base of the food web becoming part of the environment including our drinking water and soils.
So What Can We Do?!
We had some interesting discussions as we considered our haul. Before us was the evidence- the realization that those very degraded tiny bits of plastic are easily entering the food web as they settle. Bioaccumulation occurs as predators feed on prey ingesting small pieces. The danger of microplastics making the seemingly clean beaches and water ‘dirty’.
The morning was a sobering recognition that even “clean beaches” still have a bit of trash – even if not the large items we may think of, but debris still potentially harmful to wildlife and the environment. This really drives home how important is to get as much trash out of the natural environment as possible.
Reduce the amount of trash in the first place. Think about the packaging you bring home, reduce where possible, support businesses who minimize their production of trash.
Keep bringing your own reusable items whenever possible! Clean up whenever you can - whether your own trash or trash that you find!
Every September, the Ocean Conservancy hosts and inspires beach cleanups the world over, encouraging everyone to get outside, find a beach/park and spend a little time picking up trash. Keep track of what you find by using their data sheets or the app Clean Swell to count and catalogue data for your findings, submit your trash details and these data will be combined with the thousands of participants who are taking time to clean up our planet!
These reports can help us identify trends in trash; how much, where it comes from, what breaks down and what doesn’t. This valuable information can help to inform policies and gives us a valuable tool to help change our behaviors and the ways we think about trash!
Any time and energy that is spent considering ways to reduce plastics and other harmful additions to our environment is time and energy well spent! Sign up for an organized cleanup, make trash cleanup a regular part of your every day and learn more about what you can do to reduce your impact !
A big THANK YOU! to the Port of South Whidbey for hosting us at your lovely park and to Puget Soundkeepers for supporting us this International Coastal Cleanup Month! To our fabulous cleanup volunteers: we appreciate your time and energy! What a great team to work with protecting our precious watershed! Bonus that we got to enjoy a lovely day at this special place, a wonderful reminder there is so much we can all do to support our beautiful home planet – and we can do it together!
Thank you to all of our intrepid cleanup volunteers and supporters; we look forward to seeing you again – maybe back at the beach! For details on trash cleanups in Washington visit: https://pugetsoundkeeper.org/events/
Puget Soundkeepers can help you join an existing cleanup, or help you to create your own. For information on the Ocean Conservancy, visit: https://oceanconservancy.org/about/
Check out Ocean Conservancy for reports of the cleanups happening all around the world particularly this month, and look for the collected data reports. Here is a link of a map of clean-ups around the world for International Coastal Cleanup 2024:
https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/international-coastal-cleanup/map/