One of the things most of us Jerseyans love about our state is our beaches. We know the real Jersey Shore as a place giving us and our families great pleasure and enjoyment, long before MTV brought us Snooki. Well sadly, due to what else but budget cuts, our beaches might not look as good as they normally do when we arrive every year.
For the past two decades the state Department of Enviromental Protection has funded statewide beach cleanups twice a year. Once in the spring and again in the fall. The last cleanup to occur was last spring when approximately 3,000 volunteers combed more than 100 miles of beaches and picked up 22,000 pounds of trash. With the $5,000 needed for the fall cleanup cut from the budget, the Jersey Shore faces opening after missing not one but two cleanings.
A nonprofit organization, the New Jersey Clean Communities Council, is trying to change that. They are hoping to get community organizations, businesses, and volunteers involved. Looking to start a program already in use in Margate where portions of the beach are "adopted". There families can adopt a strip of beach for $250 for two summers. A metal sign is then placed letting visitors know of the adoption, and the family maintains the beach by not only cleaning it but by also monitoring it's visitors. The money goes toward the purchase of new beach recycling bins and signs.By involving businesses, they intend to make the program free to join.
It's truly hard to believe in a state where just about every shore town not only charges for beach admission, but parking, that $5,000 can't be come up with to clean our beaches twice a year. Maybe the towns could organize volunteers who in exchange for cleaning up the beaches get free admission. That seems like a nice trade off, especially since the people doing the cleaning have a personal interest.
I just hope that by getting businesses involved the shore doesn't get overrun with signs. This beach cleaned by Tom's Landscaping, Tools provided by Home Depot, Garbage Bags by Costco, etc. Last thing we need in this state is more signs, what we do need however are clean beaches.
Hey MTV we got a "Situation" over here, how about some help. Oh wait they just bring trash to the Jersey Shore, they don't clean it up.
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