HancockCountyRelief

Coastal Clean Up Day

1/15
The 18th Annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup took place on Saturday, September 16, 2006. About 3,200 volunteers collected over
Volunteers collected 63,111 pounds of trash—that’s more than 31.5 tons of marine debris—
including 4 dump truckloads of marine debris too large to fit in trash bags, such as the two
refrigerators found on Deer Island along 147 miles of MS Gulf Coast and barrier islands. Other items collected were: tires, a car battery, a television, two riding lawn mowers, tires, 8-track tapes, a kitchen cabinet door, ceramic serving dishes, a bundle of foreign mail, a swim fin, wooden pallets, Princess Diana Royal wedding commemorative coin, two cars, a Tennessee Williams novel, and boxer shorts. (2006 final results) The cleanup, which usually focuses on the Coast's mainland and barrier island beaches and waterways, has expanded to include lakes, rivers, marshes, bayous, estuaries, and other watershed locations in the marine waters extending as far north as Interstate 10. This year's cleanup included more than 40 sites in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.Cleanup zone captains supply volunteers with trash bags, data cards, pencils, and plastic gloves. Each zone captain wears a yellow zone captain T-shirt so that volunteers can easily spot them on cleanup day.
Please feel free to print out the data card and read it over. On cleanup day, each pair of volunteers will receive a data card like this to identify the trash they pick up. You must complete the data card and turn it in to your zone captain to receive your thank you gift. Zone captains may also wish to have a look at the Zone Captain's Handbook (14 MB!). We also have a data card in Spanish for our Hispanic volunteers!
If you are interested in advertising the Cleanup, we invite you to print out and post these flyers and posters. Please remember to obtain permission before advertising on someone's property!
Take the pledge to help clean up our coast next year on September 15, 2007! Download the official pledge form, fill it out, and fax it back to us! This pledge form is required for those under the age of 21. It is optional, but encouraged, for our adult volunteers.
9/1 - Update From WQRZ
Paddlers Wanted at Grand Bay Reserve for Coastal Cleanup

Bring your canoe or kayak and get ready to paddle for a cleaner Coast on Saturday, Sept. 16, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., at the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (GNDNERR), as part of the 18th annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup. Participants who bring their own canoes and kayaks will be provided with the equipment needed to pick up trash along Bayou Heron.

A limited number of canoes are available for volunteers (7 years of age and older) to use. Volunteers must call 475-7047 and sign up in advance to reserve a canoe. Cleanup participants who do not have access to a boat are also needed to clean up the area adjacent to the Bayou Heron Boat Launch. People of all ages are invited to join the staff of the GNDNERR in the cleaning up of the reserve. Children 12 and under are reminded that they must wear a life jacket if they are cleaning the bayou from a boat. Please bring insect spray, sunscreen and a pair of work gloves, if possible. Wearing closed-toed shoes is also recommended.

BILOXI, Miss.–Calling all boaters! The Mississippi Marine Debris Task Force is searching for volunteers with boats to aid in the island portion of the 18th Annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup to be held from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16.
Private boaters are needed for cleanup of Petit Bois Island, Deer Island and the west end and southern tip of Cat Island. Boaters must sign up in advance to participate. To volunteer for Cat and Petit Bois islands call Terry Wildy at 875-9057, ext. 111 or Carol Loew at 875-9057, ext. 108. For Deer Island call Susan Perkins at 523-4051.

Participants in the Grand Bay NERR cleanup should meet at the Grand Bay Reserve office, located at 6005 Bayou Heron Road in southeast Jackson County 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. on the day of the cleanup to sign in and receive their cleanup supplies. Participants are encouraged to call the GNDNERR office at (228) 475-7047 to pre-register and to receive additional details regarding the cleanup. A free drawstring backpack and “Stash Your Trash” awareness bracelet will be given to everyone who participates in the cleanup while supplies last. Children are welcome and encouraged to participate in the cleanup but must be accompanied by an adult.

After the cleanup, there will be a picnic for all Jackson County Coastal Cleanup participants at The Shed Barbeque in Ocean Springs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., only on the day of the event. Cleanup participants will need to show their lunch ticket to receive a free lunch.

The GBNERR is located near the community of Pecan in southeast Jackson County and includes wild lands and waterways from Bangs Lake to the Alabama state line. A major goal of the reserve is to provide for research coordination and dissemination of scientific data to the community and local decision-makers to provide sound information on which to base management decisions.

The 18,000-acre reserve is home to several rare plant and animal species and serves as an essential nursery habitat for numerous important commercial and recreational fish species. GNDNERR is managed through state-federal partnership between the DMR and its local partners: Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi State University, The Nature Conservancy, The University of Southern Mississippi and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

—MORE—

The Mississippi Coastal Cleanup is sponsored by the Mississippi Marine Debris Task Force, which is made up of representatives from Allied Waste Services; Chevron Pascagoula Refinery; Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; Gulf Islands National Seashore; Hancock County Chamber of Commerce; Hancock Insurance; Harrison County Beautification; Harrison County Sand Beach Department; Home Depot; Jackson County Solid Waste; Keesler Air Force Base; Mississippi Air National Guard CRTC-Gulfport; Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium; Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality; Mississippi Department of Marine Resources; Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College; Mississippi State University Coastal Research & Extension Center; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Naval Construction Battalion Center; Naval Station Pascagoula; Office of Congressman Gene Taylor; Office of the Mississippi Secretary of State; Outback Steakhouse; Rotary International District 6840 and Sea Coast Echo.

Co-sponsors (in-kind donations) include: Allen Beverages, Inc.; Applewhite Industries; The Bay Press; Beverage Association of Mississippi; Cellular South; City of Biloxi; Coast Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Inc.; Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Consolidated; The Dive Shop; First American Printing and Direct Mail; K99FM, Magic 93.7, 92.5 Hallelujah, and News Radio 104.9; Lamar Advertising of South Mississippi; Macland Disposal Inc.; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Mississippi Media; Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce; Rainbow Water; The Shed Barbeque, Ship Island Excursions; The Ocean Conservancy; The Sun Herald; and WLOX-TV 13.

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and conserving marine interests of the State by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands, adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational, educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns and social changes. Visit the DMR online at http://www.dmr.state.ms.us/


Received in Email

Hello All,

Through my work with MSU Extension Service in Hancock County, I have joined the Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee, which is coordinating the Coastal Cleanup for Hancock County. I would like to ask you, or a group/organization to which you belong, to consider signing up to be a volunteer/s for this year's Coastal Clean-up which will be held on Saturday, September 16, 8am-11am.

This year's Coastal Clean-up will concentrate on the beach from the mouth of Jordan River to Bayou Caddy. Of course, this will be a coast-wide effort so if you would like to volunteer in a different area that would be great, too.

I know some of you are out-of-towners, but I thought this would be an excellent opportunity for you if you have been wondering how you could help the Gulf Coast recover from Katrina, but don't have a great amount of time to do it.

I know most of you are locals and are quite busy with your own recovery efforts, but I think this is a wonderful chance for us all to give a little back. We have all been so blessed by the efforts of the volunteers who have come to help. Don't you think it would be awesome if we had a record-breaking number of local volunteers to show our support of our own community!

For more information visit the Coastal Clean-up official site http://masgc.org/cleanup/
or give me a call or email.

Have A Blessed Day!
Marcia
228-467-5456
marciaf@ext.msstate.edu

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phillipians 4:13

Labels: coastal cleanup, environment, katrina, ms, recovery

posted by Leslie @ 8/15/2006 05:14:00 AM