Campus launches Earth Week April 15 with beach cleanup, bike ride
|
To learn more about the Adopt-a-Beach program, visit its website or attend a training and information session to be held Tuesday, April 10, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Technology Incubator in Dunkirk. |
A bike ride and ambitious beach cleanup at Point Gratiot Park in Dunkirk on Sunday, April 15, will launch Earth Week at SUNY Fredonia.
More than a quick sweep of the beach, teams of volunteers will take water samples, measure long shore currents and perform other beach health assessments in addition to removing, cataloguing and weighing beach debris. Information collected by these teams will be entered into an online database, which is used to educate the public, inform local beach authorities and improve local beaches.
The beach sweep is part of the statewide Adopt-a-Beach program and also serves as the kick-off event of the fifth annual Earth Week observance at SUNY Fredonia. Gloves, garbage bags, and Adopt-a-Beach materials will be provided; however, volunteers are encouraged to reuse plastic shopping bags for trash collection. Volunteers may also wish to bring a reusable water bottle, sunscreen and appropriate footwear.
At 2 p.m. some volunteers will sort, weigh and catalog the collected debris while others will perform beach health assessments. Results from the cleanup will be reported to the New York Adopt-a-Beach and the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Last August, more than 75 campus and community volunteers collected nearly 300 pounds of debris from Dunkirk beaches at the inaugural New York Adopt-a-Beach campaign.
To encourage environmentally friendly forms of transportation to the event and throughout Earth Week, Campus Climate Challenge students will lead the bike ride, starting at Barker Commons in downtown Fredonia, to Point Gratiot. Those wishing to join the bike ride should meet at the downtown gazebo by 12:30 p.m. Students needing transportation or wishing to carpool to Point Gratiot are asked to meet at the Fenton Hall parking lot at 12:30 p.m. All other volunteers should gather at the Point Gratiot parking lot, across from the metal stairs that descend to the beach, at 1 p.m. for a brief orientation.
The beach cleanup is being organized by the Campus Climate Challenge Committee, the Fredonia Academic Community Engagement (FACE) Center and Sustainability Committee of SUNY Fredonia, with support from the Office of Volunteer and Community Service.
For more information about the event, contact Hannah Farley or Christina Jarvis. To learn more about the Adopt-a-Beach program, visit http://www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach or attend a training and information session to be held Tuesday, April 10, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Technology Incubator in Dunkirk.
