A Needle and the Damage Done
Saturday, October 11th, 2003
By Laird Loughlin
In our ongoing efforts to maintain the waterfront at Rockaway, we partook in a beach cleanup this past Saturday. The early morning train ride is not devoid of hurdles, and deserves an article unto itself. Joining a modest (yet productive) group of members and our comrades from NY Cares at the tent, I am pleasantly surprised at the buzz of activity. Along the boardwalk people mull around, cyclists and runners cross paths, groups of children play touch football only to be distracted by the sand and her infinite distractions. More notably, the tribe of surfers in the water and on land lends to the fact that ‘The Rock’ has a healthy surf community. It bodes well for the beach that there is a community that is concerned about the beach and its legacy.
In terms of action, I am pointed to a small group of people huddled together some two hundred odd yards down the beach. “They found a needle,” Jim, a Surfrider transplant from So Cal tells me. Unbeknownst to the needle, but not unaware of the existence of such waste, the greater community varies in degree of concern to such matters. I do not take this opportunity to take a stab at anyone concerning the issues surrounding this; I’ll leave that up to the needle and its discarded benefactor. I do not wish to engage in the social issues pertaining to narcotics use, but I feel no reservation in saying that not enough is being done to remedy its abuse in the public domain. A rhetorical question forms in my head as my gaze shifts to a toddler being cuddled by a doting father in the foreground…Message in a bottle, or bottle with a message? But I digress.
Few people question the efficacy of the beach cleanup, and the impact thereof. The truth of the matter needs little analysis to come by. All the same, I’ll map it out in two specific ways. Firstly, the Parks Department trawls the beaches, removing large and small debris. However, the most unwanted pieces can and do remain. Secondly, said department removes trash cans from the beach in the off season (Labor Day to Memorial Day), leaving people without receptacles for their trash. Some may argue that the beaches are technically closed to bathing, so there is no need to put out the trash cans. However, the greater majority of people using the beach in the off season aren’t bathers, but young and old people who use the beach as a park.
A vexed gentleman approached one of our volunteers and remarked “Why are you here? Don’t you know that the city cleans the beaches? Your people have to go through with a fine toothed comb to find any trash.” The questions are moot, but he is correct in making his last remark. The beach does need to be combed more thoroughly.
Three hours, a tire and several trash bags later, we packed up the tent. I walked around to get some local opinions about the state of the beach at Rockaway. The statements can be found below. One question that I now ask myself: what sort of solution can I put forward to ensure greater/continued interest in these matters? Well, there is and will be interest in the beach so long as people frequent it. So, I’ll put another question to you…yes you. You’ve read this piece so far, and hopefully taken something from it.
So, in your own words, answer me this: How does one foster a conservation ethic in an urban community? More importantly, how do you instill this ethic in those who frequent the beach, but are not caretakers thereof? Please feel free to E-mail me and I’ll try and field responses where appropriate.
Hope to see you at the next cleanup!
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