We’re surrounded by beauty. Redwoods, rivers, beaches, Humboldt Bay, the dunes, the ocean crashing against sea stacks – it’s one postcard moment after another. Which makes all the garbage littering the sand, roadsides, sloughs and riverbanks even more appalling. Besides the eyesore element, the consequences to wildlife can be devastating.
Some folks are so bothered by the consequences of unfettered littering that they carve out some time in their schedule to clean it up. Humboldt Surfrider hosts regular beach cleanups, the Northcoast Environmental Center offers an Adopt-A-Beach program and, most recently, Pacific Outfitters has sponsored the “PacOut Green Team,” whose mission is to spend one hour a week redirecting garbage from the ground to the dump.
Today on Coastal Currents, PacOut’s Tim Haywood and Jason Self talk about their commitment toward making Humboldt County a cleaner, better place. Tune into KHUM 104.7 FM at noon to find out more, including how you can get involved.
And if you need some evidence of all the garbage waiting out there, here’s a look at recent collections:
A not-uncommon sight on beaches local and global – plastic beverage bottle are consistently in the most littered items in the world according to Coastal Cleanup data.
Trash collected on a two-mile stretch between the Manila dunes and ocean.
In one hour along the Mad River. (Photo above and below submitted by Ken Miller)
Two hunting seasons’ worth of shotgun shell debris collecting along Mad River.
A member of Pacific Outfitters’ PacOut Green Team collects garbage near Humboldt Bay. (Photo above and below submitted by Jason Self)
More PacOut Green Team members work to keep trash out of Humboldt Bay.
This plastic bag flapped in the wind for weeks before the PacOut Green Team disentangled and disposed of it.
An hour’s worth of trash collected roadside on Indian Island.
Cigarette butts presumably tossed out car windows – they would have ended up in the bay, eventually.
Want to help? The next PacOut Green Team effort is Saturday, March 8 at 8:30 a.m. And, of course, reducing, reusing, recycling and properly disposing of your trash all help staunch the flow of garbage impacting our coast, bay, rivers and the wildlife who call those areas home.
Jennifer Savage chairs Surfrider Foundation’s Humboldt chapter and serves as the NEC’s Coastal Programs Director.
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