The trouble with a lot of Earth-oriented news coverage, David Lindau believes, is that it yells at people.
“The stories say, ‘There’s this horrible environmental problem out there, so everybody needs to freak out. But that doesn’t complete the message,” he said, “that they can really take action.”
Lindau should know. He’s coordinator of Coastal Cleanup Day, one of the most successful mass actions in the West. The beach cleanup day is coming on Saturday, April 17, which may seem far off.
But if you want to get out there on a particular beach, now is the time to sign up at www.CoastSavers.org.
A number of easily accessible beaches still need lots of volunteers, Lindau said, although popular spots such as Hobuck and Rialto beaches near Neah Bay and LaPush, respectively, already have their full complement of litter-hunter-gatherers on Coastal Cleanup Day.
The West End’s Sooes Beach, First Beach, Second Beach, Point of the Arches, Duk Point and Sand Point are among those with room for more volunteers.
The Web site, Lindau noted, indicates which sites are easy to drive or walk to and which involve rugged terrain and real exercise.
Cleanup signups are ahead of where they were last year at this time, he said.
Lindau credits two factors: People are more aware than ever of the problem of marine debris, and gasoline prices are holding steady.
“People aren’t quite as stressed out,” about travel costs as they were in spring 2009, he believes, so drivers across the state are making plans to come out to the Olympic coast for some environmentally conscious beachcombing.
Last year’s Coastal Cleanup Day saw 1,230 volunteers taking 60,000 pounds of trash off of Washington beaches, and Lindau was impressed — yet he hopes people will extend their coastal consciousness beyond this one day.
The ultimate solution to the polluted-ocean problem is to prevent garbage from getting there at all, and one way to do that is to “shy away from products that have a lot of packaging, particularly plastics. Even the stuff you think you’re being careful about can get into the waterways,” he said.
Another way to cut down on trash is to buy a reusable coffee cup, and carry it around with you.
“We all have possibilities to help, in our daily lives. It’s not as romantic as hiking on the coast,” on cleanup day, perhaps.
Then again, he said, taking a walk on a beach where there’s no trash on the sand or in the water is plain beautiful.
This month promises other opportunities to celebrate the Earth’s bounty, through volunteering and discovering new ways to conserve.
Training next week
Next week, for example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold its annual training for new Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge volunteers.
The training, from 8:30 a.m. to noon Friday, April 9 at the Sequim Prairie Grange Hall, 290 Macleay Road northwest of Sequim, will be followed by a complimentary lunch.
A refresher course for current volunteers will follow from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
To sign up, phone the refuge office at 360-457-8451 or e-mail refuge officer Dave Falzetti at david_falzetti@fws.gov.
Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge volunteers greet visitors and share information about the birds, marine mammals and other creatures seen on Dungeness Spit, said Sue Mayo, the refuge’s administrative clerk.
“We do beach cleanups in the summertime,” she added.
But mostly, volunteers work a few hours a month at the entrance, helping visitors enjoy the 640-acre swath of forest and beach.
The nearest town to the wildlife refuge, Sequim, will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22 early, with a citywide festival.
Exhibits, demonstrations, free movie screenings, a nature walk and children’s activities are on the agenda for April 17; that Saturday is also the day of the Sequim Open Aire Market’s Spring Preview, a gathering of local produce, art and craft vendors at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St.
“Everything is free,” said organizer and Sequim Mayor Pro Tem Laura Dubois.
That includes the main festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. alongside the Spring Preview at the Boys & Girls Club, and the many other events around town.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.