Last year I offered a free school visit raffle for participants in International Coastal Cleanup events in Massachusetts. There were 2900 entrants (hooray for the Bay State and its dedicated ocean lovers!) and the grand prize winner was Emily, a seventh grader from Brookline. Yesterday I visited her school.
As it turns out, I have been to the William Lincoln School once before. But if ever there was a school that I wanted to visit again, this was it. First of all, last year’s trip was a bit unsettling for me. Somehow I managed to leave my computer bag (with my laptop inside!) sitting on the floor of my garage when I left for the visit. Once I recovered from the shock and embarrassment of this oversight, I did my presentations sans slideshow. All went well, and the Lincoln students and staff were amazingly kind about my gaffe. Even still, I was more than thrilled to go back this year and show them my best.
A highlight of this year's visit was the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Zobel’s eight grade science students, who have spent a good deal of this year exploring ecosystems and sharing them in book format with younger students. What a treat to talk about the process of writing nonfiction for young people with writers in the thick of that very process! I look forward to reading some of these books when they are finished.
Many thanks to Emily, COASTSWEEPer extraordinaire, and Sue Zobel, who coordinated my visit. In honor of Emily and Sue and the entire Lincoln community, I’m going to officially kick off the International Coastsweet Get-The-Word-Out season:
This year’s International Coastal Cleanup will be held
worldwide on September 19, 2009; you can find an event near you at the
ICC website. Massachusetts residents can visit the
COASTSWEEP website, where 2009 ICC events in the Bay State will soon be listed.
I don’t know where Leo will be cleaning beaches this Saturday, but I’ll be at Salisbury Beach State Reservation. And I’ll be sporting this cool T-shirt:
© Benjamin Griffin Burns
In case you can’t read it, the fine print says:
Since 1987, COASTSWEEP volunteers have been helping to clean the beaches in Massachusetts. Barcaloungers, rubber boots, pieces of fishing net, truck tires, industrial tubing, milk crates, vinyl siding, garden hoses, food wrappers, rusty bottle tops, garbage bags, plastic grocery bags, sandwich bags, soft drink bottles, water bottles, beer bottles, beer cans, soda cans, ice tea cans, odd bits of rope (that were probably not odd to the person using them at one time), straws, tampon applicators, syrofoam cups, nurdles (a real word!), plastic knives, forks, spoons, and sporks, syringes, toilet bowls, unidentifiable bits of rubber, plastic coffee stirrers, and ciragette butts—are some of the things the collect. In past years, more than 80% of the debris collected came from land-based sources—where litter blown and washed from the streets, parking lots, and ball fields ends up in the water. In addition to the litter that’s just plain ugly to look at, every year, these bits of marine debris and stray trash kill thousands of marine animals that swallow or become entangled in them. And that’s why I’m a COASTSWEEP volunteer.
Festivities begin at 10am. Do join us if you can. If you need tips on getting involved in coastal cleanups at other locales, check out
this earlier post.
On September 20, volunteers around the world will take to beaches in a massive effort to clean up our oceans and shorelines. I’ll be one of them.
International Coastal Cleanup is a project of The Ocean Conservancy. Each September, volunteers clear their local beaches of whatever garbage has washed ashore or been left behind. The genius of ICC events is in the data cards: volunteers don’t just pick up the trash, they record it. That's right, each and every ketchup packet, paper napkin, and plastic bottle is actually counted. At the end of the cleanup, data cards are submitted to The Ocean Conservancy, whose staff tabulates the data and compiles it into an annual report. The information in ICC reports can then be used to help draft legislation--like the 2006 Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act--aimed at protecting our world oceans.
Revere Beach, 2005 © Loree Griffin Burns
Here are some tidbits from the 2007 ICC Report (which you can access here):
378,000 men, women and children in 76 countries took part;
six million pounds of trash were collected;
33,000 miles of shoreline were cleaned;
Getting involved is easy …
If you live outside of Massachusetts, visit The Ocean Conservancy’s
ICC website to find a cleanup near you.
If you live in Massachusetts, consider attending the statewide kickoff event at
Salisbury Beach State Reservation at 10am on Saturday, September 20. I’ll be there with gloves, trash bag, and data card in hand. You can find other Massachusetts events at the
COASTSWEEP website.
One more thing …
Thanks to the generosity of
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the efforts of COASTSWEEP officials, each and every Massachusetts cleanup coordinator (there are more than seventy) will be receiving a signed copy of
TRACKING TRASH in thanks for their efforts on behalf of our oceans. There is also a statewide raffle going on, with prizes that include a school visit from yours truly and several more signed copies of the book. (Find raffle information
here.)
I am so proud to be part of this incredible effort; here's to trash trackers everywhere!
© 2005 Loree Griffin Burns
On September 20, 2008, beach guardians and environmentally motivated men, women, and children around the world will gather to pick up trash on their favorite shore. In the spirit of citizen science and ocean advocacy, they will also count each and every item of trash they find. That’s right, each ketchup packet, bottle cap, plastic fork, paper napkin, and cigarette butt will be recorded, and the tallied results will be published in a massive marine debris report.
Last year, 378,000 people from more than seventy countries participated in the International Coastal Cleanup … and they cleared more than six million pounds of trash from their local beaches. In Massachusetts, 1,998 people participated in ICC/COASTSWEEP and collected 18,957 pounds of trash. And right here in my own community, 92 of my friends and neighbors gathered to clear Indian Lake of 656 pounds of debris.
Astounding, yes? So much trash. And so many motivated humans doing something about it.
If you are inspired to get involved, visit the International Coastal Cleanup website, where you will find everything you need to know.
If you'd like a little motivation, the complete 2007 ICC report can be read online here.
Massachusetts residents can check out our local Coastsweep website for information on local ICC cleanup events, and Massachusetts students in grades 4-12 can also participate in a statewide poster contest.
More soon, but in the meanwhile do spread the word!
Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on February 5th, 2008 at 8PM ET with Brother Wolf and Joyce Slater on how to tell stories with teenagers who have newborns.
Joyce Slater writes…
Storypartners for Teenage Parents is an intergenerational storytelling/mentoring residency for high schools. It is designed to promote communication between teenage parents and parents of another generation. Like it or not parents have similar experiences no matter when they became a parent. This program gives all participants a chance to tell his/her own story to someone who is there to listen to them.
Before the residency begins, possible mentoring partners are interviewed and screened. After the mentors are chosen, they participate in a workshop designed to help them tell their own personal stories. The students participate in a similar workshop before the two groups meet.
The residency lasts two to three weeks with monthly follow-up gatherings for the mentors and the students. The facilitator meets with the parents and the mentors separately and together to develop the process of telling their own stories of child rearing. The facilitator also uses stories to illustrate topics of discussion, like love, hope, disappointment and fear. Sometimes music is (more…)
