The Marshel Family Marshalls the Community for a Coastal Cleanup

The American Littoral Society is not a book club (as they say on their website), but rather an organization that encourages and coordinates coastal cleanups each year. The movement to keep our beaches clean is one of those "think global, act local" efforts, which makes sense given the quality of life in our future depends in part on the health of our oceans.

 Many folks have started local chapters of the Littoral Society all over the country as well as the world, including the Marshel family, who have started a local chapter to help cleanup Woodmere Bay in New York.

 More than just an exercise in picking up garbage, the effort includes collecting, categorizing and recording everything that is found so the information can be tracked and published by the Littoral Society.

 In the past six years since the Marshel family started organizing their local cleanup they have collected, categorized and recorded more than one ton of garbage removed from the Woodmere Bay alone! 

Each year more than 50 people show up, many of them students. The cleanup is also a chance to educate, making the young people more aware of the implications of their actions as well as the larger forces that contribute to polluting our waters. All of the participants get certificates and community service credits. It can even be considered extra credit in certain school programs and it looks good on college applications. 

Coastal cleanups will take place this year around the world on September 17th. To sign up for a coastal cleanup in your area, check with the American Littoral Society or the Ocean Conservancy. You can even find out how to organize an effort of your own. Lakes and rivers count too!