On September 17th, 2022, Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) hosted Delaware’s 35th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day! DNREC hosted the clean up at several locations around the state, including beaches, state parks and watersheds.
The Climate Scholars took their first ever field trip to Fox Point State Park in Wilmington, Delaware to participate in Coastal Clean Up Day.
The park was beautiful, the weather was perfect and there were many enthusiastic individuals helping to clean up.
The participants were supplied with snacks, waters, gloves, trash bags and plenty of hand sanitizer. They were also given a log for documenting the items that they collected, allowing DNREC to generate data on litter in Delaware.
The scholars picked up trash and smushed lantern flies around the park for three hours. Some of the items that they found at the park consisted of plastic bags, food wrappers, bottles and bottle caps, cans, cigarette butts and balloons.
There were some more unique items collected as well. Under many of the picnic tables at the park there were bunches of tape. The scholars also found a used pacifier, eye drops, a golf ball and unopened sticks of gum.
By the end of the day, the scholars had filled several trash bags!
Coastal Clean Up Day was a success. The scholars will definitely be participating again next year!
