Has Salt Pond Beach become a dump site?

Tue, Apr 17. 2012

Editor: Would you like it if somebody comes and dumps their garbage right in your yard? You’d be furious. Then, DON’T DUMP your garbage on our beaches, which are everybody’s property and for everybody’s enjoyment….. I am disgusted! Aren’t you?{{more}}

Last week, going for a morning swim, I noticed a sizeable heap of big styrofoam blocks piled up on the beach; somebody didn’t want to take them to the garbage site because of $$? and dumped them there for their convenience; that is not a responsible gesture.

Coming back in the p.m., with the help of youngsters who were swimming there, and Julie, an American Peace Corps volunteer, we gathered them before the sea would take them away and spread the damage. I even dug up pieces buried right in the sand!

The questions to ask oneself are: “WHY do that? What are the consequences? Is that good for the community?”

What is written about plastic: “ But plastic remains floating on the surface, the same place where many genuine food sources lie—and can remain so for 400 years. Plastic is durable and strong—precisely the qualities that make it so dangerous if it reaches the ocean.” writes Kimberley Amaral in “Plastic in Our Oceans.”

What to do?

First SEE that there is garbage around you, and become proactive.

Make it your business to PICK UP WHENEVER you EAT AND DRINK on the beach or elsewhere.

CLEANING OUR BEACHES regularly with Youth programs has to develop.

IMPORTANT, SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT: Take all your garbage home; there is NO GARBAGE BIN YET on Salt Pond Beach! Take home your plastic containers, bags, etc., glass bottles, metal cans,etc. Burning plastics is bad for the air we breathe. Only biodegradables like banana peelings are not damaging.

SHOW THE CHILDREN the way by doing it and involving them.

CHURCHES and SCHOOLS: The earth is sacred, so please help in the effort of concerned citizens to respect the environment and the ocean which feeds us.

Cécile Comblen
Visual Artist and Environmentalist.