On Saturday, Sept. 21, Conn College Oceana — the first ever college chapter of Oceana — in conjunction with the nonprofit organization Save Ocean Beach took part in International Costal Cleanup Day. This is not the first time Conn Coll Oceana has taken to Ocean Beach in New London for this event; they have worked with Save Ocean Beach, which seeks to preserve and protect the beach and its surrounding areas through various renovation projects and cleanups, for several years. Together, for around three hours on Saturday morning, Conn students and members from Save Ocean Beach collected bags of cigarette butts, pieces of plastic and other trash.
Several groups of about four people armed with garbage bags, gloves and an inventory checklist, patrolled areas of Ocean Beach, searching for pieces of trash and informing a scribe of their findings. The most frequent items found were cigarette butts and pieces of plastic, which were tossed to the side of paths or hidden in the sand. Students also uncovered a few questionable items among the ocean grasses and by the observation deck, including a pair of boxer briefs and half a bikini. Last year, the Ocean Conservancy calculated that about 561,633 participants picked up 2,117,931 cigarettes and 1,140,222 plastic food wrappers and containers. In total, according to the Ocean Conservancy, volunteers picked up 10 million pounds of trash in 2012.
Within the first ten minutes of the cleanup, Conn students saw how quickly garbage accumulates. One group of Conn students collected 148 cigarette butts at the end of their walk alone.
International Costal Cleanup Day, the first Oceana event of the academic year, exemplifies how dedicated Oceana and Conn students are towards protecting marine life. For Jessica Wright ’16, the treasurer of Conn Coll Oceana, the beach cleanup meant giving back to the New London community. She also finds participating in Oceana and in the beach cleanup a good way to become immersed in one of her passions: marine ecology. Meeting others who share similar interests in environmental activism is also an added bonus to participating in International Costal Cleanup Day.
“We had a great start this year with our attendance at the Ocean Beach Cleanup …in conjunction with several local non-profit organization and volunteers from all over the state” said Oceana co-president Sarah Schnitman ’14. “The opportunity to be a part of an effort that was taking place on the day of the cleanup all over the world was something really special, and many of the students who attended remarked they felt good that they were able to do something that gave back to oceans right in our backyard.”
Oceana’s participation in this worldwide event demonstrates the club’s constant devotion to protecting the environment. In the past, Oceana has educated the college community on many environmental topics, including the pervasiveness of disposable water bottles, the causes and impacts of the Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxic zone and the harmfulness of dolphin hunting culture in Japan. They have held panel discussions with esteemed experts on environmental science, hosted informative documentary screenings and recently conducted a mock oil spill demonstration outside of Shain Library complete with caution tape, tarp and scrub brushes.
A favorite among the club’s members and the college community is the annual Polar Plunge, during which participants brave the frigid ocean waves in the middle of the winter to raise money for charity. Conn students can look forward to similar events this academic year. At the same time, new members can enjoy the company of a group of easy-going, fun and passionate students who all bring something different to the group.
Oceana member Janan Shouhayib ’16 said, “I joined Oceana because it seemed like such a proactive and community-oriented organization. They host a lot of hands-on trips to places like Mammacoke Island and Ocean Beach, so that its members feel like we affect the direct relationship between our goals and our output to ocean conservation…And with a campus right off the sound, ocean conservation [should be] a deep-rooted issue for all Camels.”
Wright encourages new or prospective members to join Oceana because they are always looking for students “who are excited about the ocean and who want to give back in whatever way they can.”
Students seeking even more involvement in preserving and protecting marine life can also look to the Office of Volunteers for Community Service (OVCS) to work with local environmental organizations. Such places include Mystic Aquarium, where students have cared for marine animals and assisted on research projects, and Save Ocean Beach, Inc., where groups of students can work to plant trees, restore natural grounds and actively participate in various beach clean-ups.
Much of what the campus community teaches Conn students revolves around learning through community action. For those interested in either marine biology or the larger environment, Conn Coll Oceana provides an informative and engaging way for students to get involved in what are unavoidable issues. •
