On April 26, students from Stockton College and people of the Atlantic City community got together in front of the Rain Forest Café on the Atlantic City boardwalk at 9:00am to participate in the Atlantic City Beach Sweep.  We all stood there listening to brief speeches on why Clean Ocean Action hosts beach sweeps and what you can do to stay involved.  As you may have guessed, they host beach sweeps to keep the beaches clean and help keep the environment healthy.

After the brief speeches were given, everyone grabbed gloves and trash bags and set off to the beach to pick up what could be found.  After last time I didn’t think there would be much trash but I was wrong.  There was just about as much trash this time as there was last time.  I guess that’s why Clean Ocean Action hosts a beach sweep twice a year.  So, we walked around all morning picking up trash ranging from cigarette butts to cans to rusted chunks of metal.  Like last time we got a checklist to keep track of the different things we picked up during the day and of course, cigarette butts were the number one pick of the day.

It was a beautiful day to be out and about cleaning up.  It wasn’t too chilly and it wasn’t too hot.  Even though picking up trash isn’t my favorite thing to do, being able to be outside on such a beautiful day and the indirect impact it will have on the environment made it totally worth it.  In the end, picking up one cigarette butt could easily save one animal’s life.  Picking up a trash bag full of trash could save several animals and reduces pollution.  So, I enjoy participating in beach sweeps because when push comes to shove, I’m doing something good for the environment and the people, animals, and plants that live in it.