Paper or plastic? Neither

Andrew Edwards

Plastic and beach cleanups don’t mix if you ask members Newport

Beach’s chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

The water-quality watchdogs decided to forego plastic bags and

gloves for today’s planned cleanup at 54th Street Beach. Chapter vice

chairman Ray Halowski said the group started thinking about leaving

plastic out of cleanups about six months ago, when they used plastic

gear at a cleanup after discussing plastic-related problems at a

meeting.

“We started thinking this is not good -- we’re not in line with

what we want to be doing,” Halowski said.

The problem with plastic, Halowski said, is that when plastic

trash gets thrown away, it can wind up in the water, where it breaks

down. Fish and birds can mistake the garbage for food and die.

The solution, at least as far as beach cleanups go, is to replace

plastic products with reusable cotton gloves and cloth bags, Halowski

said. He said his Surfrider chapter ordered enough bags and gloves

for 500 people, at a cost of $2.35 per set.

“It is a big investment, considering it was only pennies [for

supplies] before,” Halowski said. “But it was a good investment.”

The public is invited to Surfrider’s cleanup, which is set to

begin at 9 a.m. Other cleanups, sponsored by the Costa Mesa-based

Earth Resource Foundation, are scheduled around Newport Beach today

in commemoration of Earth Day.

The foundation is also a sponsor of UC Irvine Earth Day, scheduled

today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the campus’ Aldrich Park. The event

is set to include an environmental film festival, entertainment and

food, foundation executive director Stephanie Barger said.

In Costa Mesa, an Earth Day event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon

at Fairview Park. The day’s activities are set to include free train

rides and a park cleanup with prizes for picking up the most trash.

“The last two years there’s been some interesting trash

collected,” said Carol Proctor, Costa Mesa’s liaison to the Fairview

Park Friends Committee.

During the first two years of the Fairview Park Earth Day event, a

bench seat from an old car was one of the more unusual items pulled

out of the park, Proctor said.

Earth Day is technically Friday, according to the Earth Day

Network, but that does not mean events must be scheduled for that

day. Additional events are planned for next weekend at Crystal Cove

and the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center at the Back Bay.

“They should actually call it Earth Month,” Barger said.