By Rachel Hajec
The smell of salt air and the sound of waves crashing on a recent breezy Sunday morning only encouraged volunteers at Lido Beach Town Park to help clean up the white sands that define it. With a full registration list, the Town of Hempstead partnered with the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society to lead the effort.
The cleanup was one part of an ongoing project by the town and the conservation society to maintain trash-free sands in Lido Beach and Point Lookout from April to October this past year.
At the recent Lido Beach cleanup, some 168 volunteers collected 241 pounds of trash. In total, the partnership between the town and conservation society gathered 1,192 pounds of trash during all their cleanups in 2024.
Rob Giovanni, executive director and chief scientist at AMSEAS, described the importance of cleaning up beaches and what he hopes local community members learn from the experience.
“There is a lot of evidence to suggest that this is something we need to bring awareness to, and because we have lots of noticeable debris, we need to do our part to protect this environment,” Giovanni said. “I think the local community does a great job, and the beach cleanups are definitely helping, but this is just the beginning and students especially should get involved to protect their future and the lives of animals.”
The AMSEAS works with local governments throughout Long Island and New York State to foster its mission to promote action for change. By conducting research, health assessments and surveys, and using a Specially Trained Animal Response Team and public outreach, its goal is to care for sea animals by restoring their homes and their health.
As climate change continues to negatively impact beaches and animal life worldwide, one of the biggest threats is sea level rise, which causes erosion that can eliminate wetlands and tracts of beach, leading to smaller, less habitable environments for animals and people.
Freeport students and beach cleanup volunteers Alessandra Peralta and Keila Ordonez expressed their concerns for the future state of the environment because of the climate crisis.
“If you look at the hurricanes that recently happened in Florida . . . all the animals and their habitats are . . . destroyed, and with the effects of global warming and climate change, we should do everything we can,” Peralta said.
“We live around a lot of beaches, and seeing animals get killed because of the plastic and other waste made by people truly hurts us,” Ordonez said.
The Town of Hempstead is continuing its partnership with AMSEAS in the hope, officials say, of restoring the beaches and marine life with monthly cleanups from March through October. In addition to helping lead the cleanups, the AMSEAS will provide data from its debris report to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for further study.
Registration to sign up to become a volunteer at future beach cleanups can be found on the Town of Hempstead website.
