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Help keep our beaches clean

By Staff | Sep 13, 2012

Are you sick of seeing litter at your favorite beach or in your neighborhood?

Take action on Saturday, Sept. 15, during “Get the Drift and Bag it.”

Community Work Day Program’s annual cleanup is an opportunity for residents to join in a global effort to remove litter and debris from our coastal environment.

Maui’s events will be coordinated in partnership with the Ocean Conservancy and Surfrider Foundation-Maui Chapter as a part of their International Coastal Cleanup.

Through the International Coastal Cleanup, hundreds of thousands of people show up every year to help turn the tide of trash threatening our marine environment.

In the last 25 years, on just one day every September, almost nine million people have picked up some 144 million pounds of trash in more than 150 countries and locations.

Each piece picked up is cataloged by type, providing valuable data for the cleanup and prevention of marine debris.

All cleanup supplies and data cards will be provided for volunteers. While the global project will take place on a single day, Sept. 15, data is accepted for cleanups that take place within 30 days of the set date, allowing coordinators flexibility to schedule convenient dates for their groups.

Volunteers are welcome to participate as part of scheduled events or pick up bags, gloves and other supplies to coordinate their own group at a location of their choice.

On Saturday, volunteers will gather at four meeting points: Kamehameha Iki Park in Lahaina, near the Camp Olowalu sign in Olowalu, Sugar Beach at Maui Canoe Club in Kihei and Maalaea Harbor. All events are scheduled for 9 to 11:30 a.m.

Water will be supplied. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles and work gloves.

To lessen the contribution to the waste stream, volunteers may also bring their own reusable bags or buckets for litter pickups. Carpooling, walking and bicycling to the event are suggested. If you would like to volunteer for any of the upcoming cleanups, suggest a site for litter removal or get more information, contact CWD at (808) 877-2524 or info@cwdhawaii.org.