The Oregon coast is famous for its incredible views of the rocky shores and tide pools. Sadly, it became a sore sight after the 4th of July celebrations. Many citizens went to the coast to celebrate the weekend and they hurriedly disposed of the garbage around.
There is a community that has reached its limit. Since partygoers have finally left the area, leaving all of their rubbish and plastic behind, a few locals have decided to work together to clean up their beaches on July 5.
Beach Parties
Food and fireworks are brought along when a large number of residents and visitors from Oregon head to different coastal beaches to celebrate July 4th.
There is this kind of activity not just in Oregon. To spend the Fourth of July near the water with friends and family, a lot of people travel to beaches across the country.
Unruly Tourists
Sadly, unruly tourists have caused problems for many Oregon beach communities, and it appears that each year they get worse.
These visitors and some residents, too, leave the beach utterly demolished after spending the entire night enjoying the summer vacation. The locals are fed up.
Volunteers Take Charge
As a result of the calamity, affected persons, and societies banded together to effect some measure of salvageation.
Be it young or old, rich or poor, professional or unemployed, everyone from the society was at the beaches with full willingness and equipped with trash bags.
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Clean-up Challenges
This means that the clean-up operation was huge because miles of the coast were covered with what was left of the destruction. Broken glasses, plastic bottles, and used fireworks included.
But the challenge that faced its human resources was enormous, volunteers did not lose hope.
Unbearable Condition
Some locals have even talked candidly about this yearly occurrence with reporters from the community. Residents of coastal communities, such as Warrenton and Gearhart, have expressed their desire for people to cease leaving behind damaged beaches.
“It’s a great holiday here,” remarked Gearhart resident Tina Popke. “It’s just that the way things have gotten out of control is not sustainable, and it’s just at the beach,” she added.
Endangering the Ecosystem
Even worse, the local environment and marine life may be seriously endangered by the garbage these partygoers frequently leave behind. Locals in Gearhart are quite concerned about this.
“Plates, plastic in all forms. In addition, the fireworks themselves include microplastics that damage the dunes, the sand, and the sea,” according to Popke.
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Community Effort
People of nearby towns and cities banded together to counter the problem. Local markets provided the materials and equipment to make the event, and local groups offered food and assistance.
People involved could be seen and heard all over the place taking their time to sort the debris. So, they could segregate the recyclable material from the non-recyclable one and even begin to bag everything in sight. It was amazing how much trash was accumulated in the whole place.
Putting a Stop to Beach Littering
Many locals in these Oregon regions want tourists to quit littering their beaches on July 4th. But it seems that not even the cops can stop this inappropriate behavior.
There aren’t enough employees to watch out for people during the holiday celebrations. This makes it challenging for the force to follow all fireworks regulations. This is according to Brian Alsbury, the fire chief of Warrenton.
Illegal Fireworks on the Beach
Regretfully, even the Fire Chief is aware that, when celebrating on Oregon beaches on July Fourth, fireworks enthusiasts disregard these regulations.
Alsbury clarified, “There are 90% illegal fireworks on the beach. Additionally, to prevent any fires from being started by someone who might accidentally shoot fireworks into the dune grass, we just send out patrol cars and stay there with water and our wildland rigs.”
Natural Splendor
At this time on the second day of the clean-up mission, there was some sense of achievement as sunlight declined. Returning to the shore the next morning the amount of litter that had been left the previous day seemed to be slowly washed away as the sand resumed to cover the beaches.
Still, volunteers continued to be committed to their work for many hours per day. Also, hours spent in the water stated that their commitment resulted from the pride and responsibility to protect their coastlines.
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Education and Prevention as Pathway to Change
Some have stressed the importance of education with the hope that such occurrences will not happen in the future.
However, it is the coordination between the local schools and the community groups to ensure that tourists have been taught on proper disposal of waste.
Time considerations
The removal of litter entails not only the clearance of the debris but also the responsibility of saving animal lives and the ecosystem. Closing the circle of cleaning up the beaches, the remaining bits of trash are picked, and the community feels pride and accomplishment.
If education and the prevention of further harm remain priorities, then the coastline of Oregon can continue to be a rich and valuable resource for future generations.
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