Leave your trash at home – deal with it there!

Apr 11, 2024

Bill Marshall, AP, Chair of the National Environment Committee of CPS-ECP

Most of us like to spend a day or several days or more out on the water. To do that we have to take some food, snacks, and drinks with us. Most of that will come in packaging. Then, what do you do with all that packaging?!

How many of us have seen plastic bags, plastic bottles and foam platters floating in the water? Exactly. How many people have seen something blow overboard in a gust? Exactly. It can happen at the dock, at a moorage, on the beach or by the launch ramp. And yes, sometimes it gets there just by floating down creeks and rivers or blowing in the wind.

Yes, most ramps, fuel docks and other places don’t have very good garbage or recycling containers handy when you return. It’s cumbersome and expensive. The solution is not to have anything to get rid of in the first place.

Here’ a simple way to NOT have packaging, trash, and recyclables aboard your boat in the first place. Repack it all into reusable storage bins and containers. You can first measure your onboard cupboards and storage areas and then buy (or save) containers that will fit perfectly in those areas. Next, label them and then, at home, repack your stuff into them. Any items you might have left over like cans or glass bottles can easily be stored in those reusable containers and dealt with properly when you get home. There you go. Nothing to worry about!

Next time we’ll talk about all the shoreline and beach cleanups that will be happening this boating season. When did beach cleanups start? Not much of an anniversary to celebrate but it’s been almost 40 years. Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweeps is one of the longest running cleanups in the world. The cleanup first started in 1985 at Sandy Hook with 75 volunteers. 1984 – Clean Ocean Action (COA) was formed. 1985 was the first beach cleanup: “Debris-a-thon.”

In Canada we have had The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup since 1994.  27,800 cleanups since then. Find out how YOU can get involved in a shoreline cleanup this season. 

https://ocean.org/pollution-plastics/shoreline-cleanup

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Canadian_Shoreline_Cleanup

https://cleanerlakes.com

https://plasticpolluters.org

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