EAST END, New York — In celebration of Earth Day recently, community groups and city officials teamed up to clean up.
Southampton Councilor Cynthia McNamara, who led the Great East End Clean-Up, met with various groups across the city, including the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Group at Ponquogue Beach, Southampton Youth Bureau at Shinnecock Canal and East Quogue PTA at Hot Dog Beach.
The Great East End Clean-Up took place across the city of Southampton on 27 and 28 April to celebrate Earth Day. About 550 volunteers removed 7.76 tonnes of rubbish and loose items such as furniture from beaches, parks, footpaths and roadsides.
“It was a good weekend. If you drove around Saturday morning you could see people everywhere with trash bags. It was really cool to see and I want to thank all the volunteers,” McNamara said.
“One thing that made me happy was that a lot of places around town weren't really that bad. Our parks department and our Town TLC crew do a lot during the year — and they really keep on top of things,” he said. .
However, McNamara wanted to point out the number of trash bags found on the beach and in storm drains. “I want to remind people that it's not enough to pick up after your dogs — you have to put the plastic waste bags in the trash. “It negates any positive effect of cleaning up after your pet.”
