Thanks for picking up garbage on International Coastal Clean-up Day

We would like to thank the more than 100 volunteers who participated in the 2009 International Coastal Clean-up Day on Sept. 19. Volunteers picked up 3.04 tons of garbage and debris on public beach access areas all the way from Dupoint Beach to Point Bridget. Thank you so much to everyone who participated.

Organizations that volunteered their time for the clean up were the Glory Hole, the Douglas Indian Association, Douglas Fish and Game employees, True North Credit Union, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Alaska Wilderness League, Sea Globally, Marine Conservation Alliance, Land Locally, Turning the Tides, the Juneau Audubon Society, Friends of Admiralty Island, Oceania, staff at NOAA, and the Alaskan Brewing Co. Thank you all for participating and we hope to work with you again next year. Many thanks to the NOAA Community Based Marine Debris Clean-up and Prevention Program for providing grant support for this event.

This event was sponsored by Turning the Tides, the Marine Conservation Alliance, Juneau Watershed Partnership, and the Alaskan Brewing Company. The clean-up was supported by funding and donations from the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, the Alaskan Brewing Co., McDonalds and Litter Free Inc.

Huge thanks to Matt Gamble, R&S Pumping, the Alaskan Brewing Company, and the great staff at the Parks and Recreation Department of the city of Juneau for hauling all the garbage to the landfill on Saturday. Special thanks to the work crew of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Facilities for helping us haul leftover garbage on Monday. All of the disposal costs for this event were donated by Capitol Disposal and we cannot thank you enough for being such a great community partner to work with.

Juneau has a litter problem. We would like to ask all of you to dispose of your garbage properly and pack out fishing line and other garbage while you are boating and hiking. We can all work together to reduce the amount of garbage found in our public areas. Thanks again to all of the volunteers who participated in this event and see you next year.

Beverly Schoonover

Executive director, Juneau Watershed Partnership

Juneau