Hamptons Community Groups Team Up To Clean Up

EAST END, NY — In celebration of Earth Day recently, community groups and town officials teamed up to clean up.

Southampton Town Councilwoman Cynthia McNamara, who led the Great East End Clean-Up, met up with various groups around town, including the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife team at Ponquogue Beach, the Southampton Youth Bureau at the Shinnecock Canal, and the East Quogue PTA at Hot Dog Beach.

The Great East End Clean-Up took place throughout Southampton Town on April 27 and 28 in celebration of Earth Day. About 550 volunteers removed 7.76 tons of garbage and bulk items such as furniture from beaches, parks, trails, and roadsides.

"It was a good weekend. If you drove around Saturday morning, you could see people everywhere with trash bags. It was really good to see, and I want to thank all the volunteers," McNamara said.

"Something that made me happy was a lot of the places around town weren’t really that bad. Our parks department and our Town TLC crew do a lot during the year— and they’re really keeping on top of things," she said.

However, McNamara did want to point out the number of dog waste bags found at the beach and in storm drains. "I do want to remind people that it isn’t enough to pick up after your dogs — you have to deposit the plastic waste bags into the trash. Dog waste bags, even biodegradable bags, take a very long time to decompose, so you’re negating any positive effect of cleaning up after your pet."