Doing the Dirty Work for Clean Beaches
By Lauren Poster
The 21st annual South Carolina Beach Sweep happened Saturday, Sept. 19, as it has on the third Saturday of every September since the latest group of legal drunks throwing bottle caps into the dunes was born. And as harsh as that sounds, the pollution continues, summer after summer, year after year along the coasts of our beloved state. Few people within the city take notice or care, as Myrtle Beach does its best to clear the beach regularly of the expected detritus that accompanies heavy traffic. But outside the city limits, nobody is officially in charge of this rather tiresome task. And that's where we come in. Or at least we're supposed to.
I remember participating in Beach Sweep as a child, somewhere around the age of 11 or 12. Encouraged by my teacher Pat Pierce, my classmates and I showed up at the alarmingly early hour of 9 a.m. - and on a Saturday, no less - to don our visors, snap on our gloves, and get picking. In the crystalline frame of my memory I recall thousands of us, almost like the strike force at Normandy, mounting the beach with strive and determination. In that memory I myself am saving a sea turtle from the constraints of a soda can ring with one arm while pouring water onto a beached whale with the other. Natch.
In those days, I was concerned about the rainforest, which certain fast food companies were tearing down in order to raise more beef cattle. I think I bought a patch of it for five dollars. I think I boycotted certain fast food companies. I was very socially aware - and so, it seemed, were a lot of people.
Shamefully, I have not participated in Beach Sweep for many years. Not many of us have. When I arrive at Springmaid Pier this year, I find two lone men standing on the beach, a supply of bags, gloves, and long sticks amassed at their feet. Adam Janis and Jason Noll of the Surfrider Foundation are waiting for volunteers. They wait in vain.
The Grand Strand chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is in its 11th year, and Adam, an executive member and former president, tries each year to uphold his commitment to the group's tenets. They work to preserve our beaches and ensure clean water and access sites along the coast as well as throughout estuaries, rivers, and other local bodies of water.
Adam notes that in years past, college students like Delta Chi, a service-oriented fraternity at Coastal Carolina University, have comprised a large portion of their volunteers. Thanks to the renowned Marine Science Program at Coastal, a fair amount of awareness is generated among younger residents of the area. Adam points out that Garden City usually has the best volunteer turnout year by year, but is also among the most polluted sites. Last year his supervision of the Withers Swash River Sweep resulted in the collection of several hundred pounds' worth of garbage. There he and his team recovered everything from common litter to hypodermic needles. The years when he works the beach, the recurring trend is cigarette butts.
"Don't be a butthead!" he says with a smile, but firmly. "It makes you wanna quit smoking when you see this stuff." The dunes are the most polluted portion of the beach, partially because people try to conceal refuse there, and partially because it gets washed into the grasses by the tide. What's the worst thing he's ever picked up during a Beach Sweep operation? "Underwear." Tourist or local? "Couldn't say." Granny panty or thong? "Don't want to remember."
Jason, Adam's quiet cohort, stands by solemnly. When asked why he comes out year by year to volunteer he answers simply, "I'm just really passionate about the beach and the environment, and want to do what I can to help." Moments later, he furrows his brow, grabs some supplies, and begins walking the beach alone, stabbing at bits of garbage and placing them methodically into his bag. That's dedication.
I am told that a group of Intermediate School children are covering the area around the Sea Captain's House restaurant at 31st Ave. North, and when I arrive I find none other than my former teacher Ms. Pierce. Flabbergasted, I ask for her name, taunting her to remember me and sure that she won't. "You better remember my name, girl!" she squawks. Even now, 17 years later and among a fresh crop of students, my mentor hasn't forgotten me. "You all don't do anything but get taller," she says with a smile, offering a glove to a young boy. He is one of five children in the group. "Who wet the bag?" Ms. Pierce demands. "The ocean," someone pipes in a small voice. "Who let the bag get wet? Well, it doesn't matter. Want to dry your hands on my pants?" This last question is asked in all sincerity. Getting dirty doesn't faze the fearless leader.
Ms. Pierce has an official sheet where she can record what types of debris she collects and note the amounts. Each cigarette butt is carefully counted and represented in tens by marks on her paper. This information will be submitted so that the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources can keep track of the sources of pollution.
Does each of the kids have his own sheet? "I teach children, I don't teach baby goats [kids]," corrects Ms. Pierce. She goes on to tell me some of her favorite finds from years past, not all of which are revolting: a festive champagne cork, boxers, a t-shirt, and a hat all in close proximity (presumably the wearer of these clothes had been turned into a lizard and slithered off into the dunes); and a wallet containing "mega bucks" (Good news for the do-gooders: the child who found said wallet was awarded $25 when she returned it to the owner).
Hali and Ian Phillips, in the seventh and fifth grades, respectively, guided me to the collection site. Attendees of the Virtual School, the pair learn with the guidance of an online curriculum at home. Despite not being immersed in the social scene, they seem to be pretty socially aware. Nonetheless, I ask Ian if in all honesty this is his idea of a fun. "Not really," he answers with a shrug. "But the beach appreciates it, you know," I say. "It better" he says through tight lips. Too bad so many of us forget in our old age how much difference one sacrificed Saturday can make.
Visit www.surfrider.org to find out more about the group's efforts to improve our beaches, and please become active in any way you can. The beach is our biggest asset; we all want to keep enjoying it, and its our job to make that a reality.
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