The Surfrider Foundation – Maui Chapter held a beach cleanup and Hands Across the Sand event at Maui’s Sugar Beach on Saturday.
Dozens of local residents and visitors volunteered at the event and filled a 10 cubic meter dumpster in less than three hours with trash that was once strewn along the beach.
“We are grateful to the volunteers and the Surfrider Foundation for cleaning up Sugar Beach and making Maui a better place,” said Timothy Lara of Hawaiian Paddle Sports, who sponsored the event. “It’s always telling to see how much rubbish and debris is left along the shore. We are confident that events like these will motivate people to act responsibly and also help shape environmental policy.
The most common items picked up during cleanup were cigarette butts (494), plastic fragments smaller than a penny (163), foam fragments larger than a penny (120), plastic fragments bigger than a penny (103), paper towels (95), plastic drink bottles (69), foam fragments under a penny (68), plastic bottle caps and rings (49) , glass fragments (47) and plastic food packaging (47). Larger items such as car parts, tires and lawn chairs were also found.
The Hands Across the Sand is an annual global event that has taken place in over 100 locations around the world on the same day to embrace clean energy locally, nationally and globally.
“The message is simple: no to dirty fuels and yes to clean energy,” said event organizers. “These gatherings have drawn metaphorical and real lines in the sand; human lines in the sand against the threat of dirty fuels.
The Maui event was sponsored by Hawaiian Paddle Sports as part of its monthly Mālama Maui community giving program.
To learn more about upcoming Surfrider Maui beach cleanups and other ways to volunteer with the chapter, visit maui.surfrider.org.
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