By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Hey, is anyone missing a surfboard? What about a small refrigerator, or a gutter, or a pack of crayons?
Or perhaps you’ve lost your driver’s license?
Those were some of the more unusual items found during Sea Isle City’s annual spring beach cleanup, according to a new report that describes the hodgepodge of trash, debris and just plain junk removed from the shoreline.
Altogether, 4,173 pieces of trash, litter and other odds and ends were collected during the April 22 cleanup that included more than 200 volunteers fanning out over the entire island, the report by the Sea Isle City Environmental Commission says.
The cleanup was held on Earth Day, the annual celebration underscoring the need to protect the global environment, including the marine life and fragile eco-system at the Jersey Shore.
By far, most of the trash removed from Sea Isle’s beaches and dunes was of the plastic type, which included hundreds of cigarette filters. Bags, food and candy wrappers, bottles, foam containers and straws were also commonly found among the plastic trash.
“Items of concern are plastic store bags, foam and plastic straws that are repeatedly found on our beaches. They pose an environmental damage to the beach and specifically to marine life,” the report stated.
However, the report raises hope that in coming years plastic trash will become less common on the beaches, following New Jersey’s new law that began in May 2022 banning plastic grocery store bags, Styrofoam food containers and plastic straws.
“This ban on plastic grocery store bags, Styrofoam food containers and plastic straws has aided to prevent and minimize any harmful effects to the beach environment and marine life,” it says.
Generally speaking, the amount of plastic trash and litter, including cigarette filters, has been declining in the past five years on Sea Isle’s beaches and dunes. For instance, 2,719 pieces of plastic trash were removed during the April 2023 beach cleanup, compared to 5,202 in April 2018.
The amount of plastic trash hit a five-year low when 2,416 pieces of litter and debris were removed in October 2021. Sea Isle also has a beach cleanup in the fall each year.
The report also points out another encouraging trend – the total amount of trash collected on Sea Isle’s beaches has steadily decreased from April 2018 to April 2023. In April 2018, volunteers removed 7,318 pieces of trash and litter, close to double the amount collected in April 2023.
“This shows a positive trend and invites everyone to continue this momentum and take ownership in the effort to keeping our beaches clean,” the report stated.
In addition, there are strong indications that a statewide smoking ban that took effect Jan. 1, 2019, at New Jersey beaches and parks is significantly reducing the number of cigarette butts littering Sea Isle’s shoreline.
The April 2023 beach cleanup removed a total of 488 cigarette filters, compared to 1,240 in April 2018. The smallest number of cigarette filters collected from the beaches in the last five years was 339, in April 2022.
The state gave shore communities the discretion in 2019 to either ban smoking altogether or designate small areas where beachgoers could still light up. Sea Isle imposed a complete smoking ban on its beaches.
“This smoking ban can be correlated to the decrease in the number of cigarette filters littered on the beach, dunes and their proximity and this observed decrease should also provide a decrease in the toxic effects triggered by cigarette butts,” Sea Isle’s report says.
The report was written by Sea Isle City Environmental Commission volunteer Maria Andrews, a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania.
It includes written comments from some of the volunteers who participated in the beach cleanup. The comments indicated an array of opinions about the overall condition of Sea Isle’s beaches.
“Not as much trash as in previous years,” one volunteer wrote.
“Beach is the cleanest we have ever seen at this time of year,” wrote another.
However, another volunteer wrote that there were “lots of beer cans and bottles.”
Another wrote that there were “many more cigarette butts than we normally find on the beach.”
Each year, Sea Isle is one of the shore communities that participate in beach sweeps in the spring and fall organized by Clean Ocean Action, a state environmental organization.
Sea Isle’s cleanup volunteers catalog the types of trash and debris that are found. The information is sent to Clean Ocean Action as part of a statewide database from beach sweeps at shore towns across New Jersey.
The Sea Isle City Environmental Commission beach cleanup report for April 22, 2023, is available at Welcome to the Official Website of Sea isle city, NJ – Environmental Commission (seaislecitynj.us).
