Save the Sound, a bi-state program of Connecticut Fund for the environment, is hosting coastal clean-ups at 70 sites across Long Island Sound’s Connecticut shoreline throughout September and October.
One of the clean-up sites is White Sand Beach to Griswold Point in Old Lyme where work will start today Sept. 17, at 9 a.m. St. Ann’s Church in Old Lyme is co-hosting the clean-up. Members of the public are invited to register for cleanups here.
The clean-ups, co-hosted by local partners including civic associations, youth groups, churches, clubs, and environmental organizations, are part of the International Coastal Cleanup. This year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day is tomorrow, Sept. 17. Twenty public cleanups are expected on Saturday, with two more on Sunday and others through mid-October. There are also additional private clean-ups.
Ocean trash threatens the health of beach-goers, birds, sea turtles, fish, and marine mammals, and damages economic activity such as tourism and the fishing industry. Every piece of trash volunteers find is tracked, reported to Save the Sound, and included in Ocean Conservancy’s annual index of global marine debris.
Ocean Conservancy founded ICC 31 years ago, and Save the Sound has been the official Connecticut coordinator since 2002. Over the event’s three-decade history, 11.5 million volunteers have collected 210 million pounds of trash worldwide.
In 2015, Save the Sound brought together 1,512 volunteers at 58 cleanups to remove over three tons of litter and debris from Connecticut beaches, marshes, and riverbanks.
For a complete list of public coastal clean-ups happening in Connecticut throughout September and October, visit Save the Sound’s blog.
Selected additional clean-ups on Saturday, Sept. 17 are:
- Long Wharf Nature Preserve, New Haven. 10:00am – 2:00pm. With the New Haven Land Trust.
- Branford Point Park, Branford. 9:00am – 12:00pm. With Yale Environmental Health Sciences and the East Shore District Health Department.
- Hammonasset State Park, Madison. East Beach 9:00am – 12:00pm, West Beach 9 – 11:00am. West Beach with Friends of Hammonassett.
- Ocean Beach Park, New London. 10:30am – 12:00pm. With the Cedar Island Marina Research Lab.
A selected clean-up on Sunday, Sept. 18 is:
- City Pier, New London. 9:00am – 12:00pm. Underwater dive cleanup with the SECONN Divers.