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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
ICC volunteers
hope to change
dirty behaviorNEXT Saturday is "Get the Drift and Bag It" Day, so have you volunteered yet to help clean up our beaches and waterways?
Sept. 20 will mark the 17th year of Hawaii's participation in this International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and as usual, its organizers are looking for a large turnout of helpers.
The work requires very little heavy lifting because the majority of the litter tends to be made up of things like cigarette butts and picnic dinnerware.
We know this because every year volunteers are asked to keep a running count of every item they bag.
For instance, of the 30,166 pounds of debris collected last year, the "Top Ten" list was led by cigarette butts/filters at a whopping 34.3 percent of the 103,000 items counted.
The next highest category was for cups, plates, forks, knives and spoons at 13.5 percent. And, if we add in caps and lids, we can account for more than half of all the debris items collected in 2002.
If you're wondering why such data is collected, it's because it can be used to determine the nature of the world's pollution problems and to establish ways to eliminate their sources.
The data also should be a reminder to all of us that, as the cartoon character Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
"Most of the items found during the ICC are packaging waste from consumable goods that are discarded after the product is used or consumed," University of Hawaii's ICC coordinator Christine Woolaway said.
"Unfortunately, the long reign of many of these items at the top of the list indicates that many people appear content to maintain their current behavior and assume their individual impact on the problem is minimal.
"Beach cleanups aren't truly effective tools against pollution if they don't go hand-in-hand with public education," she said.
I would also add that on Oahu at least, the statistics seem to indicate that our government agencies aren't doing as much as they might to corral litter before it ends up in our waterways or beaches.
In many communities, weekly street-sweeping programs require all vehicles to vacate curb parking on specific days of the week to allow sweepers complete access to the curb. That, after all, is where most litter collects before being washed down a storm drain and into the sea.
Such comprehensive street sweeping also helps to remove the less noticeable, but more hazardous chemical pollutants left by vehicles such as fuel, oil, coolant, tire rubber and brake pad linings.
I should also point out that until 1996, when the state closed its Litter Control Office, there were nearly 10,000 volunteers taking part in beach cleanups.
Without the constant attention that office brought to the problem, the number of Get the Drift and Bag It volunteers has decreased annually.
With no reflection on the fine efforts of those currently organizing the effort, the volunteers dropped to 4,300 in 1999, then to 2,340 in 2000, and to just 1,850 last year.
If you think you could help out this year (it's only from 8:30 a.m. to noon), please call either UH Sea Grant at 956-2872, or Coastal Zone Management at 587-2880, or the Governor's Committee for a Beautiful Hawaii at 538-3166 to register.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ray Pendleton is a free-lance writer based in Honolulu.
His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at raypendleton@mac.com.
