The Marine Debris Cleanup Event lasted for two weeks this year. Seventy five volunteers spent approximately 470 hours cleaning 3,000 pounds of trash off our local beaches. This event would not have been possible without tremendous community support. Thank you Haines Borough Public Library for hosting the kickoff event, Lindsay Johnson for boat support, Chilkoot Indian Association and Luke Williams for boat support, Cindy Buxton and Russ White for providing housing and transportation to guest speakers, Haines Friends of Recycling for the logistical support, Haines Borough for providing the dump truck, Community Waste Solutions for accepting the trash, and Tod Sebens for the discounted boat ride. The biggest THANK YOU goes to the volunteers who spent many hours picking up and recording every piece of trash they found, providing personal boat support, hauling bag after bag of trash from the boat to the dump truck- this event would not be possible without you! The majority of trash was local garbage; tires, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, fishing line, etc. Nearly 500 hours were spent cleaning these beaches. Please do your part to keep them clean. Reduce the amount of single-use plastics that you purchase, bring your own bags to the store, and most of all please dispose of your trash properly. Cleaning the beaches each year isn’t a solution, but changing the way we consume goods and dispose of our waste is a solution. Everyone can do their part. So please Haines, let’s work together to keep our beaches clean.
-Tracy Wirak-Cassidy