The ECF Marsh Cleanup project this year was held on April 16 — a bit earlier than the official Earth Day but situated such that working folks could participate.
We welcomed members of the Open Space Committee, aquaculturists and Nicole Paine, Shellfish Constable to the effort.
The total amount of plastics, aquaculture & other trash removed this year was 455 lbs. (incl. Uelia & her husband’s contribution earlier). This brings the 4-year total to over 2 tons. WOW! In addition, a focus of this year’s activity was the removal of car & track tires that litter the shoreline. Mostly these have been deposited by uncaring people over the past decades. Why does this matter? To quote the EPA regarding the health & environmental concerns of improperly discarding tires, “disease carrying pests such as rodents may live in tire piles. Mosquitoes can also breed in the stagnant water that collects inside tires including those that carry encephalitis & dengue fever”. Tires also break down into hazardous compounds including methane gas, heavy metals, & oil that leach into the soil. Most of the tires that we removed contained pools of stagnant water conducive to the breeding of bad mosquitoes. Owing to a tremendous effort by this year’s team we removed 28 tires weighing 1300 lbs. (incl. some metals & pilings).
There is a saying which also applies to our cleanup “that happiness is planting a tree knowing that you will not enjoy the shade”. Our removal of tires & plastics will benefit the marsh ecosystem & humans for decades to come. Thank you for making a difference.