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Community Corner

Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps Set

Check the schedule to see where you can participate.

Another summer has come and gone. The season was filled with characteristic days of laughter, sunshine and relaxation at the beach.

While the parties have gone, the reminders of them — caps from water bottles and soda, straws from drinks, and hundreds of other bits of debris — remain behind.

This Saturday, hundreds of volunteers will be hitting the state's beaches from Sandy Hook to Cape May to pick up plastics, Styrofoam, cans and much more, left behind by humans and the tides, as part of Clean Ocean Action's fall Beach Sweeps event.

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Clean Ocean Action is headed by longtime Rumson resident and environmentalist Cindy Zipf.

Since the first sweeps in 1985, more than 90,000 volunteers have participated in the now twice-yearly event, picking up more than 4.5 million bits of trash and debris. While the nature of that debris has changed as the times have changed — cigarette butts have dropped out of the top 3 items, but plastic bottle tops, which were far more rare in the 1980s, have surged into their place — the need for awareness has not, according to Clean Ocean Action's statistics.

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Fish, whales, birds, and other animals often mistake litter for food," the group says on its information page about the beach sweeps. "As a result, animals get entangled in or ingest items, such as plastic bags, cigarette filters, and fishing line, with deadly results."

Groups of 10 or more are urged to register in advance before participating in the sweeps, but all volunteers are welcome, even on the day of the sweeps, Clean Ocean Action's Web site says.

The sweeps run begin with check-in at 9 a.m. and run until approximately  12:30 p.m., rain or shine. Volunteers will be provided with trash bags and data cards to record the litter they pick up, which goes into the group's database and its yearly report.

Volunteers are reminded to dress for the weather and bring gloves to protect themselves from sharp objects during the cleanup.

Nearly 60 sites, statewide, are scheduled for clean-ups:

MONMOUTH COUNTY

Aberdeen: Fisherman's Parking Lot at Cliffwood Beach

Allenhurst: Euclid Avenue

Asbury Park: (2 Sites) 1.  Convention Hall at the Boardwalk  2.  North Beach (meet at the dirt lot near Asbury Towers)

Atlantic Highlands: Harbor parking lot on First Avenue

Avon: Pavilion at Norwood & Ocean avenues

Belmar: (2 Sites) 1. Belmar Fishing Club, First Avenue Beach (2) 16th Avenue Beach

Bradley Beach: Gazebo at 5th & Ocean avenues

Deal: Philips Avenue beach

Highlands: (2 sites) 1. Popamore Point on Shore Drive 2. Snug Harbor Ave. Beach (behind Community Center)

Keansburg: Laurel & Beachway avenues

Keyport:  Cedar Street (First Street at waterfront)

Long Branch: Pier Village, meet at public access at Melrose Terrace and Ocean Avenue

Manasquan: Main Street beach

Middletown (3 sites): 1. Leonardo Public Beach South at Beach Avenue; 2. Ideal Beach at Ocean Avenue & Bayside Parkway; 3. Bayshore Waterfront Park — meet at Fishing Pier

Monmouth Beach:  Bathing Pavilion at 29 Ocean Ave.

Ocean Grove: Main St. Beach; Meet at Flagpole

Red Bank: Riverside Gardens Park

Sandy Hook: Parking Lot D (Seagull's Nest Restaurant)

Sea Bright (4 sites): 1. Ferguson Beach, north of Rumson/Sea Bright Bridge; 2. Meet at Gaiter's Restaurant Oceanside; 3. Meet at Algarve Milano oceanside 4. Meet at Public Beach parking lot

Sea Girt: Boardwalk at Beacon Blvd

Spring Lake: South End Pavilion at Atlantic & Ocean avenues

Union Beach: Florence Avenue at Front Street

OCEAN COUNTY

Bay Head: Central Market at Rt 35 & Mount Street

Beachwood: Public Beach, Compass Avenue

Brick: Brick Beach III on Route 35 North, next to Ocean Club and across from Bayside Park

Lakewood: Lake Carasaljo, meet across from St. Mary's Church on Route 9

Lavallette: Philadelphia Avenue beach

Long Beach Island: Alliance For a Living Ocean Office; 1101 Central Avenue, Suite A, Ship Bottom, NJ

Mantoloking: Lyman Avenue beach

Normandy Beach: Meet at Labrador Lounge at Peterson St & Route 35 North

Ocean Gate: Wildwood Avenue Pier

Point Pleasant: Maxson Avenue beach and River Avenue beaches

Point Pleasant Beach: (2 sites) 1. Jenkinson's Aquarium on the Boardwalk   2. Maryland Avenue

Seaside Heights: Grant Avenue on the boardwalk

Seaside Park (4 sites): 1. Stockton Avenue on the boardwalk; 2. Second Avenue; 3. Midway Beach at 6th Lane; 4. Island Beach State Park, Bathing Pavilion #1

MIDDLESEX COUNTY

South Amboy: 1. Raritan Bay Waterfront Park (for more information contact Scott Meyler 732-745-3064 2. Fisherman's Parking Lot

ATLANTIC COUNTY

Atlantic City: Missouri Avenue Beach; Press Event/Rally will be held on the boardwalk.

Atlantic City: Caspian Avenue and N. Maine

Brigantine: 17th St. Beach, South

Egg Harbor Twp.: Longport Dog/Malibu Beach

Longport: 33rd & Atlantic Avenue beach

Margate: Granville Avenue beach

Oceanville: Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, *October 27, 2012* Visitors Center

Ventnor: Newport Avenue beach

CAPE MAY COUNTY

Cape May (3 sites): 1. Nature Center of Cape May (1600 Delaware Ave.) 2. 2nd Ave. Beach 3. The Nature Conservancy's South Cape May Meadows

North Wildwood: 15th Ave. at Beach Patrol Building

Ocean City (2 sites): 1. 9th St. Music Pier  2. 57th St. Beach

Strathmere: Webster Avenue beach

Stone Harbor: 95th St. beach

Wildwood: Poplar Avenue beach

Wildwood Crest: Centennial Park (Ocean Avenue & Fern Road)

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