Water Ways Ray Pendleton

Picking up trash can be rewarding

That's when volunteers statewide will join in the International Coastal Cleanup effort to remove litter from our water ways and beaches.

"Get the Drift and Bag It" is more than just litter removal; through an annual partnership of the Nature Conservancy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it is when every item picked up is identified, quantified and recorded to create a database for public education.

Last year's statistics show that more than 2,200 volunteers removed litter from some 87 miles of Hawaii's shoreline and they tallied 118,883 individual debris items that weighed a total of 1,480 pounds. In addition, another 1,534 debris items were retrieved from a 3-mile underwater area.

If the total weight of the trash seems somewhat less than you might imagine, it is because much of what was picked up was very light to begin with.

Of the top 10 individual items of litter collected in 2005, cigarette butts, filters and packaging amounted to more than 33 percent of the total. The second-place category of fast-food caps and lids followed with just 12 percent of the items picked up.

Food wrappers -- nearly 11,000 of them -- were the third-most-found items, accounting for 9 percent, while the 8,285 glass beverage bottles that were picked up placed them in fourth.

Rounding out the top 10 items found were the usual suspects from any day at the beach: cups, plates, utensils, bags, plastic beverage cans and bottles, fishing lures, straws and stir sticks.

The statistics from 2005 also seem to bolster what most recreational boaters I know agree on, that they contribute very little to the overall problem. On-the-water activities accounted for just 10 percent of the total debris recovered.

It was found that fully half of all the debris originated from land-based activities such as picnics, festivals, sports, beach outings and litter washed down storm drains from streets and parking lots.

If helping to clean up our islands' beaches and water ways is a project you would like to get involved in, there will be a gathering of "Get the Drift and Bag It" volunteers at the Waikiki Yacht Club on Saturday at 8 a.m. Parking will be available at the Ala Moana Shopping Center across the street.

The cleanup will last 4 hours, so it is important to bring a hat, sunscreen, and a water bottle (extra water will be provided). And although some gloves will be available, organizers recommend bringing your own, if possible.

As both my wife, Michelle, and I have been involved with these cleanups for years, we can attest to the sense of reward one feels by participating.

And we can promise that volunteers will forever feel dismayed whenever they see a smoker casually flip a cigarette butt away, rather than disposing of it properly. It just happens way too often.