By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
Residents from across Long Island came to Long Beach to sweep the beach clean of garbage and debris from East to West on Saturday, Sept. 21. Discarded cigarette butts, diapers, food, beer bottles and beach passes fell victim to the 2002 International Coastal Cleanup that brought volunteers out to the beach and Lido wetlands.
Sponsored by the American Littoral Society, the City of Long Beach, the Long Beach City School District and BOCES, the cleanup worked to keep the barrier island's greatest assets looking good.
During the partly sunny morning, a Girl Scout Troop began cleaning the beach, while also picking up a new badge for their efforts. As part of a community service project, the girls helped clean underneath the boardwalk and along the shore.
There's a lot of bottles and glass and cigarettes, 11-year-old Tara Lane said. There's Styrofoam and potato chips. We get a badge and a certificate for being out here, but it's really to just help out the community.
Still, there was an assortment of litter to be found.
We're finding lots of assorted bottles, bottle caps, cigarette butts, beach passes under the boardwalk, Rockville Centre Troop Leader Patty Roantree said. We're finding a lot of beer six-pack and case containers.
Asked what she found on the beach that surprised her, she replied, A dead bird and a diaper.
Many residents and non-residents alike came to the beach for one reason alone: to rid the beach of litter and to preserve the environment.
I'm down here to clean the environment so there's no garbage around, so that the animals can live and they don't get hurt, Long Beach resident Danielle Danoski said.
And 12-year old Emily Levine agreed.
I'm here to help have no pollution because we want to save animals and stuff, she said, And it's just really disgusting when you want to go to the beach and relax and you see beer bottles and garbage all over the beach.
While 9-year-old Melissa Gelin was cleaning the beach, she had a message she wanted to share with people that throw litter onto the beach: Stop throwing your cigarettes on the beach and throw away your waste because it could be contaminated!
In the West End, adults and children came out to pick up the left-over summer trash.
Originally from Brooklyn, Michele Menkes has been living in Long Beach for the last six years. Cleaning the beach, she said, would help her become more involved in the community.
I just love living here, I want to help out, she said. I never want to move away from here. I love it.
Jack Horan has lived in Long Beach for over 40 years and decided to do his part in cleaning up the beach.
I tried to clean my section of the beach and today I'm just trying to help out all along the beach here, Horan said. I'm concerned about the environment and animals, so I figured I'd come down and help clean up.
Mainly, he was busy picking up papers and plastics.
I think everybody should do a lit bit more, he added. You have a nice beach here and it makes the beach nice and clean.
For the last eight to 10 years, John White said the West End Neighbors Association has been involved with the cleanup. By cleaning the beaches, families show respect to the beach.
Long Beach has been getting a bad name lately, but we've got probably the best beaches on Long Island, White said. So, what it shows is that the people here in Long Beach, and especially the West End, love their beaches and love their community.
