April 22nd is Earth Day, and what better way to help make a difference than cleaning up the beaches in your own backyard.
Martha’s Vineyard is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and on Saturday, April 22nd, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the Vineyard Conservation Society makes it easy for you to do your part.
This year marks the 25th Annual VCS Earth Day Beach Clean-Up. All you need to do is pick the beach most special to you, and go. The VCS team has everything you need right there for you, beach clean-up kits await. However, if you like you can bring your own gloves and bag.
The most important thing is to show up and help. Not only is all the trash on the beach disgusting to look at but it is so harmful to our marine wildlife. Last year, “300 people spread out over 24 beaches, collecting 150 bags of trash, plus 3 truckloads of larger and/or more toxic debris (like still-full oil containers). The most common items found were the usual suspects: plastics of all kinds (bags, bottles, wrappers, etc), balloons and their strings, beer bottles and nips, cigarette butts, and fishing gear”.
.
Beach Clean-Up Day is a six town event which makes choosing the beach you’d like to clean, easy. If you’re up-Island, there will be volunteers with beach clean-up kits at Lobsterville, Philbin, Menemsha, Squibnocket, Lucy Vincent, Cedar Tree Neck and Lambert’s Cove.
For down-Island, there is Fuller Street to Lighthouse Beach, State Beach (Bend in the Road), South Beach (left and right fork), Owen Park, Lagoon Pond, Eastville, State Beach (Little Bridge), Town Beach, and SSA to Inkwell.
Once you decide what beach is important to you, important to beautify, grab the family or some friends and make a morning out if it.
We at Point B have made this an annual team tradition. Having an office in Edgartown, we all meet at the Harbor View Hotel, collect our kits, and walk to Lighthouse Beach making our way over to Fuller Street Beach.
We welcome you to join us, beautifying Edgartown. We’ll be easy to recognize, look for our awesome new hats!
Not only is it an office event we all love to participate in, but it’s a family affair too. Point B’ers bring the next generation to help do their part too. It’s also a fun reason to get us all together. There is something that feels so good about doing our part to make the Island a little cleaner and beautiful.
We’re proud to be a part of the 300+ volunteers that participate in the Earth Day Beach Clean-Up, and hope that you too will join in the fun and this important effort
It seems like our beaches would be some of the cleanest around, but sadly they are littered with plastic and junk, not only from us, but also stuff that washes up from the ocean. It’s important as a community we do what we can to keep our beaches and waters clean, not just on Earth Day, but every day.
Together, we can keep our Island beautiful. Then after all our hard work, you can celebrate and relax at the After Party at the Harbor View Hotel. There will be guest speakers, fun raffles, t-shirts and lunch, all as a way to say thank you to all the volunteers that make this Earth Day celebration so successful.
Thanks for reading the On Point Blog. You can learn more about the Vineyard Conservation Society on Facebook. Don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter, Linked In, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube.