Recap of Belmar Beach Cleanup
| September 26, 2009 |
On September 26, 2009, Tau Iota helped out with an Adopt a Beach cleanup at Belmar Beach, hosted by Hudson County College’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. The event was coordinated with Coastal Cleanup, supported by the EPA. There were 6 members/officers and 1 advisor from Tau Iota in attendance. Thank you to: Kevin Rutz, Karen Marcotullio, Rachel Ryan, Michael Ryan, Matt Buenvenito and myself (Charis Chambers), with a special thanks to our advisor, Dr. Mirashi.
As a chapter, we’ve collected: 1 paper bag, 14 plastic bags, 67 plastic bottles, 1 glass bottle, 25 beverage cans, 58 caps;lids, 1 article of clothing, 48 various paper products, 49 cups plates and utensils, 15 food wrappers, 35 straws, 9 hair clips, 2 cleaner bottles, 2 PVC pipes, 3 plastic tarps, 2 pieces of electrical tape, 1 piece of boardwalk, 4 cigar tips, 1 piece of gum, 4 Band-Aids, 3 pieces of broken glass, 9 rusty screws, and 109 cigarette butts!
Along with Tau Iota, 9 other Phi Theta Kappa chapters were involved from the following schools: (consisting of 53 volunteers)
Beta Alpha Phi, Hudson County Community College
Beta Alpha Phi Alumni Association, Hudson County Community College
Alpha Theta Theta, Essex County College
Alpha Epsilon Pi, Raritan Valley Community College
Tau Iota, Ocean County College
Iota Xi, Union County College
Alpha Pi Theta, Brookdale Community College
Alpha Theta Gamma, Mercer County Community College
Tau Gamma, Northampton Community College
Rutgers University
As a chapter, Tau Iota was able to college 30 pounds of garbage! As a state, New Jersey Phi Theta Kappa was able to college over 260 pounds of trash!
Brown Site Cleanup Photos
These are a few pictures from the event, which Sam Arcieri recollects on in the following post.
Toms River Clean-Up
I gave the Earth a hug earlier this month; and I feel like it was long overdue. On August 8th, myself, and fellow PTK members Charis, Kevin, and Danielle participated in a clean-up sponsored by the New Jersey Community Water Watch; and I can honestly say that I have never been happier taking out the trash. It was amazing to see the power of community service in action. When the group gathered at the “Brown Site” in Toms River I was so surprised to see such a range in age and status among the participants. Not only did OCC students participate, members of the Toms River community also braved the mosquitoes and the heat in order to do their part in protecting Barnegat Bay and other local waterways.
I had never participated in a clean-up prior to the Brown Site, so naturally I did not know what to expect when it came time to put on gloves and pick up trash. My tensions were soon eased once our group ventured into the woods and began to collect trash, ranging from bottles to clothing to an abandoned telephone pole, at an extremely rapid rate. I can speak for our PTK clean-up group when I say that as the day carried on, we began to somewhat enjoy the heaviness of our bags because they represented all that we achieved throughout the day. The amount of garbage that we (four people) collected still shocks me, and the amount of trash that the group as a whole collected amazes me even more. The sight of all the filled trash bags at the end of the day made me think; how different would the planet be if everyone throughout the globe participated in clean-ups on a regular basis? Wouldn’t the Earth be a much nicer place to live of everyone spread the spirit of service?
I think that giving community service plays an essential part in connecting the community as a whole. Where else would such a variety of people in different stages of their lives come together in order to achieve a common goal? What else would inspire college students to dig through foliage and climb through thorn –plagued bushes in order to retrieve bottles carelessly thrown into the woods? Community service promotes learning among all ages and is something that should be embraced with open arms.
I would like to thank Water Watch for inviting PTK to the clean-up and all of the members and community officials who participated and showed their support.
