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Last Updated: May 24, 2009 - 3:37:13 PM |
586lbs of trash was collected at Gold Rock Beach by Lucaya International School.
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I participated in the International Coastal Cleanup efforts on Grand Bahama Island along with my children's school, Lucaya International on Saturday, September 23rd. Last year I took my own children to a beach closer to home to clean for a few hours, as I felt one should clean what one uses, and in one's area.
This year however my son had overnight guests that also were expected to assist with the school so we piled in the car, along with their other friends to encourage a carpool and set off to one of the country's most beautiful national parks. Gold Rock Beach, is part of Lucaya National Park and is approximately a 25 minute drive east of Freeport.
It was a gorgeous morning and we hummed along the highway thickly coated in our sunscreen ready for a
hot morning of collecting trash.
The International Coastal Cleanup global initiative is the world's largest volunteer effort of its kind with over 378,000 involved in 2007 and 76 countries participating. I was happy to be a part of it!
The National Park has two routes to cross through the mangrove area to get to the beach. Presently the Bahamas National Trust is working on improvements to the short route (330 meters), so we had to walk the longer way, mostly over boardwalk, which is 400 meters.
It was a gorgeous day, the challenge was the fallen trees we had to climb over, under, and around to collect the trash. A swim in the ocean helped. The group walked out westward to find the trash and had to be hauled back to the start point.
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Arriving to the beach the other students, parents, teachers and even a couple grand parents were already out busy gathering trash. We were handed our rubber gloves and a large trash bag each. I was shocked to see the tide was very high. Perhaps we might have checked the tide charts - a good note for next year. Due to the hurricanes of 2004 many of the trees along the shore were all down, so the walk to find trash was over, under, around and through tree branches, massive roots systems, and large trunks of fallen trees. Quite beautiful to the eye but a workout for the body.
I had sandals on and immediately stepped onto a branch and a sharp twig stuck into my foot cutting my skin open. I looked down, and thought, "Great start Robbin!..." Then I picked up my bag and headed off behind the boys who of course were looking for the girls as well as the trash!
From the path at the Gold Rock Beach beach shore, Lucaya International School was to scour and collect toward the west, while another school collected to the left or toward the east.
It is amazing what one can find out on a beach today. Party ribbon, bottles of course, a variety of plastics in every shape, size and form. I later asked my son what was the worst or most surprising thing he found on the beach, and he said, "I found a bottle with liquid and in it was a condom". Well, my most disturbing find was a bright pink plastic tampon applicator.
It didn't take long to begin filling my bag with trashy treasures. I was way behind the pack, but still finding things. I was amazed that all those before me had not seen the garbage I was finding. Good to have a crowd I assessed.
It also didn't take long to cut through the gloves we were all wearing. The branches, twigs and such were tough to wade through. A machete would have helped in many areas, as well as a knife or scissors to cut through all the rope, twine, ribbon and string tangled in the trunks of trees and wood on the shore.
LIS teacher Paul Highdale and area ICC coordinator Chad Hepburn conduct a weigh in.
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After a strenuous two hours many of the students were swimming and enjoying the warm Bahamian water. The teachers gave the word to begin walking back for the trash weigh-in. The school collected an impressive 586 lbs! Grand Bahama organizers of the cleanup provided us with water, chips, t-shirts, gloves and recording documents to assess types and the amount of trash collected.
We gathered the students to pose for a group photo after they had had their swim, and refreshed themselves with snacks and water. Feeling pretty good about what we had just accomplished, we were all asked one more favour from our area organizer Chad - to then carry all the trash we'd collected back to the main road, certainly a task unique to this park.
The Lucaya National Park bridge, now under construction. Help Build the Bridge and buy a plank. Contact the Bahamas National Trust at BNT.bs
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On the walk back I took a quick peek to see how the bridge repairs were going along the shorter route through the mangroves. Donations and funding are still necessary to complete and maintain this project. (Read more here).
Keeping our beaches clean, keeps The Bahamas clean. The Bahamas is a coastal country. Enjoy the beach, but take your trash home or put it in the can man!
Editor's Note:
Where you involved in the International Coastal Cleanup on your island? The Bahamas Weekly wants to hear from you! Send us your cleanup results and your photos and they will be published. Email to Editor@thebahamasweekly.com
Four LIS students carry trash 400 meters to the main road.
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