Story and photos by Judy Benson
Madison—While camping at Hammonasset Beach State Park in mid-August, the Moriello family of Bethany ended up joining 25 other volunteers picking up trash on a Saturday morning.
“We’ve all got to work together to keep everything clean,” said Angelo Moriello, who came upon the cleanup while out for his morning run. He then recruited his wife and three children to get trash grabbers and buckets from the Save the Sound cleanup station at the southeast end of the park.
The Aug. 17 event was co-sponsored by Connecticut Sea Grant and Save the Sound as a kickoff event for the 2024 #DontTrashLISound campaign of beach cleanups, social media posts and “Protect Our Wildlife” sticker giveaways that will continue through International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 21. The campaign is now in its eighth year.
“This cleanup was a big success, between the number of volunteers who attended and the amount of garbage collected,” said Annalisa Paltauf, ecological restoration assistant and volunteer coordinator for Save the Sound, as the 90-minute cleanup ended. “It was a great way to kick off the Don’t Trash Long Island Sound campaign and the CT Cleanup!”
During the cleanup, volunteers collected 64 pounds of trash and recorded their haul on tally sheets provided by Save the Sound. Even with regular beach raking and maintenance by park staff, trash wasn’t hard to find caught in bushes, under walkways, in rock crevices and along paths throughout the park, which sees more than three million visitors annually, more than any other state park.
“I’ve got food wrappers, plastic cups, cigarette buts, plastic bottles, cans,” said Glen Gleissner, a volunteer from Middlebury, showing the contents of his bucket.
Data from the tally sheets shows 332 cigarette butts were collected—more than any other item— and the “strangest items” found included a dead seagull with plastic in its beak, a tarp and four spent shotgun shells. Save the Sound compiles data from cleanups along the coast each year into a Connecticut Cleanup Report shared with the public.
The #DontTrashLISound campaign is one of the projects being undertaken as part of the Long Island Sound Marine Debris Action Plan, created by the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant programs in 2022 with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program, NOAA National Sea Grant and more than 50 partner groups. Its goal is to understand, prevent and mitigate the impacts of plastics and other consumer debris, abandoned and lost fishing and aquaculture gear, and microplastics and microfibers on the Sound.
“We appreciate the partnership with Save the Sound to arrange this kick-off event and the efforts of the individuals who volunteered some time on a beautiful Saturday morning to help keep this popular state beach looking its best,” said Nancy Balcom, associate director for Connecticut Sea Grant. “We hope our colorful critter stickers which can adorn reusable water bottles will serve as a reminder that little changes in our behaviors can have very positive impacts.”
To find out about volunteering at upcoming cleanups, visit: https://www.savethesound.org/take-action/volunteer/2024-coastal-cleanup/.
