Save the Beaches Educational Program
STUDENT ESSAYS FALL 2008
Save the Beaches
Educational Program
STUDENT ESSAYS FALL 2008
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Bud Maaser from STB was on hand to make the presentations to the 6 finalists.
After the Education Program’s Documented Beach Clean-up, the Babylon Grade School fifth graders
were invited to enter the Save the Beaches Essay Contest. The topic was;
What one thing did you collect, during the beach clean-up, that you think could be most harmful
to the whole environment or to a particular animal or plant? Why did you come to that conclusion?
The winners were awarded $25.00 book store gift certificates at the school on October 29th by Bud Maaser.
Below are the winning essays, in no particular order.
NOTE: These students were permitted to “carefully” clean up in the protected dune areas because
it was well after nesting season and the shorebirds had already migrated away from the area.
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Nicholas Ferrigno - Mr. Tordy’s Class |
YUK! We were cleaning the disgusting beach. There was so much stuff there like:
Glass
Cigarettes
Wood Scraps
Rope
Plastic Bags
Bottles
Bottle Caps
Straws
Paper.
There were many more things.
I didn’t like finding all the trash because I was thinking about all those animals that die; it’s terrible.
People shouldn’t litter. Instead they should help the environment.
Two ways people can help the environment are to throw their garbage away and to recycle.
I think the most harmful piece of garbage is cigarettes.
The reason I think cigarettes are the most harmful is because while you’re smoking the cigarette
you are hurting yourself and the people around you. The other reason is that when you throw the cigarette on the floor,
the animals can eat it and get sick because the cigarette is toxic.
The cigarettes take a while to disintegrate, so the animals have more of a chance to die from them.
I hope people realize what they are doing to our planet and stop littering.
I learned a lot that day. One thing I learned is that people are too lazy to get up and go to the garbage can
to throw away their cigarettes, cans, bottles, and anything else.
Another thing is that some people don’t care what they are doing to the animals and the environment.
Think about if you were an animal living on a beach and people were littering on your home.
I bet you wouldn’t like it so why do you do it to the animals that live there.
NO MORE LITTERING
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Laurianna Frasson – Ms. Zwerlein’s Class |
Hi, I am Laurianna Frasson and I am here to tell you about the “Drop Factor”.
There are harsh people who “Drink & Drop”; “Eat & Drop”; and “Smoke & Drop”.
Recently Ms. Zwerlein’s class went on a field trip to help with a clean-up project
at two of Babylon’s beautiful beaches, Cedar and Overlook. Being part of this clean-up
showed me how important our role is to care for our beaches.
When we were at Cedar Beach my class and I went fishing, then sand digging, and then we had boat safety.
Then we went to Overlook, we learned about this beach and what happens during storms, then ate lunch.
After lunch, we separated into groups to begin the clean up on the beach.
As we cleaned up, I was very disappointed to see the kind of trash we had to pick up,
things like cigarette butts, broken glass, plastic bags, foam cups,
tin foil, candy wrappers, bottle lids, and even a sock.
Placing cigarette butts in the right receptacle near the snack stand,
and broken glass and tin foil in the recycle bins can help limit the debris on the ground.
All this debris is dangerous to people and animals.
The reason is it can injure people and animals while they are walking or running.
You and I can make a huge difference by putting the trash in the right bins.
You can pick up trash when you see it. And help volunteer for clean ups in your town.
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James Marsden – Mr. Fasciani’s Class |
On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, I went to Cedar Beach with my class.
We went to learn about how we can save our beaches and protect animals that live at the beach.
I couldn’t believe how much litter we found on the beach!
We found soda rings, cigarette butts, plastic bags, plastic caps, food wrappers, plastic bottles, and broken glass.
All of these items could greatly harm the beach and the animals that live there.
Hungry animals could accidentally eat soda rings, plastic bags, caps, broken glass and cigarette butts.
They might think that it is food. But, instead they could become sick and die.
Food wrappers, plastic bottles and bags make the beach look messy,
they may harm animal nesting areas and may prevent plants from growing.
We learned valuable lessons that day. We need to stop littering to protect our beaches for us and future generations.
I like going to the beach and I would miss it if it wasn’t there.
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Drew Christensen – Ms. Mielenhausen’s Class |
My class went to Cedar Beach for a field trip. One part of our trip was to collect manmade garbage.
I was very surprised at what I saw.
First, I looked at the beach and thought it would be hard to find garbage. Once we set off to the dunes,
I realized that it wasn’t hard at all. It seemed as if there was tons of garbage to collect.
My bag became full and soon ripped because of the weight of all the items.
I found broken glass, plastic bottles, metal tools and one item that really interested me the most.
It was orange in color about six inches long and maybe three inches wide.
Luckily, I had on a glove because when I picked it up, I realized it was a rusted out aluminum can.
Even the sand inside was orange from the rust. I guessed that it may have been about one hundred years old.
It was completely deteriorated and had lots of sharp edges because it fell apart in my hand.
Can you imagine how bad and even dangerous a rusty can would be in our beach environment?
I could imagine that an animal might step on this rusty can and become diseased.
An animal might also eat the flip top and even choke.
Lastly, our beaches are a place we go to appreciate beauty.
Our beach is a natural environment and should be just that – NATURAL!
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Jack Corcoran – Mr. Rossi’s Class |
When we went to Cedar Beach, I was appalled at what kinds of garbage we found.
For instance bottle caps, statues, and plastic Ziploc bags, were just a few things we found
that could endanger an animal’s life.
When we were searching for garbage, I found a plastic Ziploc bag and I know that sea turtles love to eat jellyfish.
If that plastic bag was blown out to sea, out of the dunes, a sea turtle might identify it for a jellyfish,
try to eat it, and die from choking. Even though the sea turtle doesn’t live in the dunes,
it can still be affected by what garbage is thrown in them.
Sometimes when people are done fishing they just throw their nets and lines or reel into the dunes
which can be very dangerous for birds because, let’s say a piping plover gets stuck in some netting,
it now becomes easy prey for a fox. And, if it had layed eggs, then the eggs will die
and eventually their population decreases and they become endangered.
In the last couple of paragraphs I’ve listed only 2 reasons
why garbage can affect the dunes and the animals in and outside them.
If pollution doesn’t stop the animals and plants will vanish and so will an important piece of Long Island.
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Leah Manfra – Ms. Presuto’s Class |
Seagulls Should Not Smoke
It may not be a pleasant thought, but every cigarette filter left in the sand
can kill our precious marine life (and others) at our beaches.
While collecting cigarette filters that were left, I felt sadness fill my heart.
I also found: plastic bags that an animal can eat and choke and also die and food bags which are like the same.
Newspapers can go on fire on a really hot summer day. Glass we can step on and get cut or we can get the piece of glass
deep into our foot or maybe our hand if we’re digging in the sand and can make our hand bleed.
Plastic silverware and plastic cups can get sharp if they get cracked.
They are also highly flammable. So is Styrofoam flammable.
But cigarette butts are the most hazardous to us, our environment, and animals.
As a society, we have learned that cigarettes can cause damage to and even end human lives.
But few of us think of the danger that “cigarette butts” cause our sea life.
As you know, we humans transformed from animals. Cigarettes get thrown away almost every day in the world.
According to the Ocean Conservancy, cigarette butt litter accounts for one in every five items
collected during cleanups, making it the most prevalent form of litter on Earth.
In just one day 230,000 cigarette butts were collected from California beaches
during the 2000 Coastal Cleanup Day. Cigarette butts were the number one trash item found.
There are over 176,000,000 pounds of discarded cigarette butts in the United States each year.
Over 4.5 trillion cigarettes are littered worldwide each year. They are the most littered item of trash around the world.
Did you ever know how bad cigarettes can be for our bodies?
A lot of people died from smoking. Even thought they quit they got lung cancer.
When people go to the beach they smoke. Since most people who smoke don’t bring garbage bags or any garbage disposal,
they just throw the cigarettes into the sand and into the ocean.
The fish may think that the cigarette butts are food for them to chow down on, even though they’re not food.
Then the fish die because of what’s inside the cigarette. They sometimes get sucked into the whale’s blowhole.
LASTLY
A quote from Maggie Higgins, a Babylon Grade School Fifth Grader.
“Our Beaches are Fragile and Precious,
But Unfortunately They are being Abused and Polluted by Humans.”
Preserve and Protect our Beaches.
all trademarks and copyrights are the property of Save the Beaches Fund, Inc.