Volunteer Beach Cleanup Yields 3,380 Lbs. Of Garbage

MATTITUCK, NY — Armed with gloves, buckets, pitch forks, rakes, wheelbarrows and hearts of gold, an army of volunteers turned out Saturday for a beach cleanup at the Mattituck Inlet.

The event was organized by Surfrider Foundation, Eastern Long Island Chapter. The Shamrock Tree Company of Mattituck brought a 20-yard container for debris removal, a UTV and trailer and a crew, and Boeckman Construction, of Mattituck, brought a crew along with a dump truck to cart away garbage and debris.

According to Molly Waitz, the cleanup made a vast difference, with volunteers collecting a total of 3,380 lbs. of garbage in total. She thanked Mattituck Environmental for taking it all at no charge.

Carolyn Munaco of Surfrider Foundation said the cleanup in Mattituck was organized for the same reason all cleanups are planned by the group, to reduce the amount of plastic marine debris in our waters and along the shores — and to educate and raise awareness of the harmful impact plastics have in our environment.

"Plastics do not go away — they just get smaller and smaller and enter our food chain. Our ecosystem is suffering greatly due to humans over consumption and unnecessary use of plastics; in particular, single use plastics," she said.

The North Fork shorelines are inundated with marine plastics and many people do not realize it, Munaco said.

"Either people do not realize it, don’t care, or they feel overwhelmed and get discouraged in attempts to clean up," she said.

Coming together and working with the community not only gets beaches cleaned up but it educates and raises awareness of the "plastic plague" humans have created, she said.

"It is amazing how many people say how much they actually enjoyed helping and making a difference," Munaco said. "It is amazing how people really get into it."

"It's nice to give back to the community," said Jonathan Shipman of the Shamrock Tree Company. "As children, my friends and I would swim at that beach, so I jumped at the opportunity to join the cleanup to make a difference. Now with two boys of my own I would like my kids to have the opportunity to fish and swim at that beach."

Kurt Boeckman of Boeckman Construction said he saw the planned cleanup on social media; he believes the Surfrider Foundation is a great group that has a passion for keeping beaches and waters clean.

"My family and I spend a lot of time on the water, keeping our boats in the Peconic Bays," he said. "My friends call me Kurtasea, which is also my boat's name. When not on the water, my girlfriend Molly and I enjoy taking our dog Sperry to the beach. We love the Breakwater Inlet beach. It's sad to see in such poor shape."

He said when he mentioned that he was going to volunteer, Shipman, his best friend for more than 25 years, immediately jumped onboard.

Photo courtesy Molly Waitz.