On Sunday, January 12, I had the pleasure of spending a couple hours at the beach with Sarah Heeley and Meghan Pryor and their families. Sarah and Meghan have just become our first Adopt-a-Beach group in South Portland, Maine! They adopted scenic Willard Beach, a place that was very busy with families and dogs on the nice, sunny day.
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| A beautiful day for a cleanup on Willard Beach! |
Sarah learned of the Adopt-a-Beach opportunity through her mother, Susan DeQuattro, who adopted Cape Neddick Beach in York, ME nearly a year ago. Sarah is a licensed massage therapist who lives near Willard Beach. She said in her adoption application, "I love the beach and want to help keep it clean! I also want to help educate our community, bring awareness about clean beaches, and set a good example for our daughter." In addition to other family members, Sarah and Megan's daughters Charlotte and Eden - both 2 years old - came along, showing that beach cleanups are great for all ages!
The Adopt-a-Beach program requirements are fairly minimal. All you need to do is download and read our brief handbook (available online
here), fill out and send in an application, and we'll set up your first cleanup. A Blue Ocean Society staff member conducts the first cleanup with you and we'll bring you all the supplies you need for your cleanups. We ask for a one-year commitment to cleaning your site once per month. Most cleanups take only an hour - so really, it is a commitment of about 12 hours per year.
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| Cleaning the beach |
At the first Willard Beach cleanup, we picked up about 12 pounds of litter. The crazy thing is that it was 12 pounds of mostly very small things - small pieces of foam, plastic and cigarette butts. But even these little pieces count, because they can potentially be swallowed by animals such as birds and fish.
Thanks to Sarah and Megan and their families for their commitment to a healthy marine environment!
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| Megan & Eden Pryor, Sarah Heeley |
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