LIVE BLOG: Mitchell Beach Cleanup

students and other volunteers are cleaning up Mitchell Beach on the Thames River today, and Patch is there! The event goes until noon, and we're broadcasting live from the site with , and we'll be posting information, photos, and videos until then.

Dr. Brennan Victoria: A professor STEM department (Science, Technology, Environmental Studies, and Mathematics) program, Dr. Victoria says the cleanup effort has been going on for at least five years. Three of those years have coupled it with a habitat restoration project for the dunes on the beach. Fences and the reintroduction of native plants such as bayberry bushes have helped arrest the erosion.

Victoria says garbage likely makes its way to the beach after floating around in the Long Island Sound or after it is thrown from passing boats. Beer and alcohol bottles make up the bulk of the trash, but the unusual findings have included underwear, beach chairs, and umbrellas. "A lot of it just has to dow with the fact that though this is a private beach, the public does come down here," she said.

Kristen Przyborski: assistant professor in the STEM department, she discovered that foot traffic and invasive species on the dunes were seriously affecting the dunes. The Department of Environmental Protection agreed to help, and through grants the fences and beach grass have helped arrest erosion.

The restoration has become a community effort, with Connecticut College and the Coast Guard Academy also contributing. Every semester, about five Mitchell classes (100 students) have been working on it, making it one of the largest coastal habitats in Connecticut "It's definitely having an effect," says Przyborski. "And this has become a sort of outdoor classroom."

Kenneth White: A Mitchell College sophomore, White says the cleanup gives extra credit in his biology course. That's not the sole motivator, however. "I don't really do a lot of things to help out the Earth, so I thought I would wake up, do a good deed," he said. "It's the little things that count...all the little things will add up tot he big things eventually."

Amanda Brennik: Also a Mitchell College sophomore, Brennik says she is going into criminal justice but may pursue a field related to environmentalism. She said the beaches seem cleaner than last year, but more garbage is always washing up. "This is really important, because the plastics in the ocean there are a lot of animals that get hurt."

Ben Nelson: A Mitchell College senior majoring in environmental studies, Nelson was conducting a bit of a social experiment: asking if people would ban "dihydrogen monoxide," a chemical harmful chemical that contributes to erosion and can be fatal in large amounts. It's "also known as water," as the petition said, but it still had 31 signatures (including Brennan's, to add to the credibility of the effort). Nelson said the result was both amusing and distressing:

"Some people just join for environmental issues. They don't even ask if they do anything," he said. "I hope people learn, because one of the things that bothers me about environmental issues is people never learn."

Nelson is maintaining a blog on environmentalism at mitchellgreenleaf.wordpress.com.