New Jersey beaches awash in litter

CHRIS KELLY staff Rumson's Karl Buch, along with Roxanne, walk along the oceanfront during Beach Sweeps in Sea Bright.

SANDY HOOK - Local ocean advocacy group Clean Ocean Action (COA) released data April 24 from the 2007 Beach Sweeps that reveals volunteers removed a record number of pieces of debris per person, and one of the highest recorded number of total items collected.

On average, each of the 4,870 volunteers removed 63 pieces of debris from New Jersey's beaches, with items totaling 304,342. Cigarette filters also resurged to the top of the list of items collected from beaches after being bumped by plastic bottle caps and lids in 2006. Over 15,000 more cigarette filters were collected in 2007.

"Year after year, the data from our cleanups provide clear evidence that we are failing to control litter and to protect our waters from waste. The cure is simple: we must enforce existing litter laws and renew programs," said COA Executive Director Cindy Zipf.

This year's Beach Sweeps took place April 26 at over 60 sites along the Jersey Shore, from Glen Ridge to Cape May. The Sweeps began at 9 a.m. and ended at 12:30 p.m.

CHRIS KELLY staff Sea Bright's Natalie Skurat participates in the cleanup on April 26.

COA's Beach Sweeps is the largest grass-roots environmental event in the state and the longest-running volunteer cleanup in the United States.

Since it began in 1985, over 70,000 volunteers have removed and cataloged over 3 million pounds of debris from the Jersey Shore.

"Unfortunately, when it rains, our waterways are the ultimate sinks for the thousands of cigarette butts, food bags, plastic bottles, and other garbage littered by people every day in this region," said COA Pollution Prevention Coordinator Anna Will. "With every rainfall, our roads, parking lots, and lawns are washed off, bringing everything on those surfaces into storm drains. These storm drains bring rainwater - mostly untreated - to our rivers, streams, bays, and the ocean."

By combining the spring and fall events, the 2007 Beach Sweeps data shows that 4,870 volunteers picked up a total of 304,342 items at 107 sites in New Jersey.

There were 2,606 volunteers who participated during spring and 2,264 in the fall.

In 2007, cigarette filters topped the list of collected items, totaling 38,019 (15,000 more than 2006). Recent bans on indoor smoking in New York and New Jersey may have contributed to this increase. As smokers get sent outside, cigarette butts are often tossed to the sidewalk or street, and washed into waterways and the ocean with rain. COA also attributes litter to a general lack of public awareness of the impact of litter on the environment and how individuals' actions contribute to ocean pollution.

New Jersey's Dirty Dozen List, which is an annual list of the top 12 items most frequently collected and recorded at COA's Beach Sweeps, includes 11 plastic items. In 2007, paper pieces also crept back into the dirty dozen.

The NJ Dirty Dozen for 2007 spring and fall COA Beach Sweeps include:
1. Cigarette filters - 38,019
2. Plastic caps and lids - 33,724
3. Plastic food, candy wrappers/bags
- 30,221
4. Plastic pieces - 23,159
5. Plastic straws/stirrers - 21,787
6. Foam plastic pieces - 16,016
7. Plastic beverage/soda bottles -
12,316
8. Plastic cigar tips - 6,786
9. Plastic forks, knives, spoons -
5,902
10. Other plastics - 5,507
11. Paper pieces - 5,378
12. Plastic cap rings - 5,283

"Plastics persist in the marine environment and cause harm to wildlife through entanglement and ingestion. Animals mistake garbage, especially plastics, for food, with lethal results," said Will.

The 2007 Roster of the Ridiculous, which lists the most unusual items found during the sweeps, include: three toilet seats, three cell phones, a cell phone charger, a shopping cart, a pregnancy test, three bags of pet waste, a suitcase, two pairs of scissors, a tennis racquet, a paint roller, a paint can, two pairs of glasses, car keys, police caution tape, a baby car seat, a car bumper, hair curlers, a television set, a microwave oven, three bouquets of fake flowers, two pairs of underwear, a doll head, an eight-track tape, a bobble-head doll, an ice cube tray and half of a Barbie doll.

Beach Sweeps participants complete data cards, which are reviewed, compiled and analyzed by COA. The information collected at the sweeps helps identify pollution problems, aid legislators in enacting laws to protect our marine environment, and inform local and international efforts to combat marine pollution. The Fall Beach Sweeps are also a part of the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), and the data collected is included in the ICC Annual Report and used to combat marine debris worldwide.

For more information visit COA's Web site at www.cleanoceanaction.org.