W.A.K.E. U.P.

ANGELS OF THE WATERWAYS

YOUR W.A.K.E. U.P. CALL 

“We do not quit." -President Barack H. Obama 

Mr. Vic Consiglio of Operation SPLASH was guest speaker at our January general meeting and alerted us to the challenges facing our Great South Bay waterway.  Our waters are lacking oxygen thereby creating havoc for our mollusks and fish life; their habitat is deteriorating.  Mr. Consiglio stressed the urgency in protecting our Great South Bay and how Operation SPLASH has been and continues to strive in educating our community, and to work with our town officials to bring awareness to our endangered waterway.

Approximately a week after his presentation, we learned that New York Conservation officials plan to list Long Island's Great South Bay among the state's "impaired waters."  They made this decision mainly due to a second occurrence of a deadly brown tide.  This could be the opportunity that Operation SPLASH needs to restore this once pristine and bountiful body of water.  We have offered our support to Operation SPLASH to help in any way we can.

Newsday featured an article highlighting towns located in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, and how they graded in the Citizens Campaign for the Environment's 2009 Long Island Recycling Report.  Most of these towns fared well and did show progress, however, the report did state that "there is room for improvement especially in our schools.  Schools are crucial because they not only can reduce today's trash but create tomorrow's recyclers!"  Progress must increase in our recycling programs!

On a bright note, Westport, CT became the first town on the East Coast to ban retailers from distributing plastic bags!  Sadly, not one town on Long Island has embraced this policy.  It is up to us, you and I, to stop using plastic bags.  We must continue to discourage the use of plastic bags by bringing our own tote bags, or use no bags at all. 

 Together we make a difference!

We are proud to pass along to you the following information.  The total of debris collected in our waterways during the 2009 calendar year has been documented.  How much was collected?  Allow us to break it down for you:  803  bags (paper or plastic), 304 cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons, 1,001 food wrappers/containers, 329 plastic beverage bottles, 172 glass beverage bottles, 278 beverage cans, 441 caps, lids, 50 pull tabs, 22 six pack holders, 140 straws, stirrers, 35 clothing/shoes, 39 toys, 1,402 cigarettes/cigarette filters, 48 cigarette lighters, 48 cigar tips, 206 tobacco packing/wrappers, 16 bait containers/packing 21 buoys/floats, 22 fishing line,  9 fishing lures, 21 rope, 5 bleach/cleaner bottles, 4 oil/lube bottles, 1 appliances, 28 building materials, 9 condoms, 1 diapers, 3 tampon/tampon applicators, 3 syringes, car battery, push cart, baby carriage, styrofoam, 30 foot plastic fencing, umbrella frame, signs, endless  pieces of broken glass and a dead bird.  We spent a total of 62 1/2 hours, and removed pounds of debris in 72 bags during our 2009 cleanups!  We know the totals for certain offenders would be higher, however, when our volunteers complete their reports with words like "many," "numerous" or "ridiculous amount" this could not be tallied into the final total.  Many thanks to our 72 volunteers who participated, you did a great job!  Because of your time, effort, enthusiasm and commitment the Massapequa Lake, Tobay Marina and various waterways in Massapequa's Great South Bay are much cleaner.  Yay!

We hope to see you, our dedicated volunteers, at our scheduled cleanups to embark on our mission to protect our waterways through our actions.  Please go to our "calendar of events" tab to view our upcoming cleanup dates for 2010, or read on.  Together let's work to do our part to help solve this worldwide problem.  Please join us again!  Let's show our community that we care!  We can not do this with out you!

We need to pick up our stride.  We need to remain focused on solutions.  We need to continue to promote awareness and combat water debris and it's source; practice the "three r's": reuse, reduce and recycle, remember and practice the importance of keeping our home, vehicles, and boats "green."  Knowledge is power!  We must continue to educate ourselves, each other, our neighbors, our community and our community leaders.  We must show we care!

"We do not quit!"

Together we make a difference!

 Again, thank you  so much for your hard work and valuable time on each cleanup!

Earth Day

 Each year we celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd.  Earth Day, as described by Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2008, "is a day dedicated to the environmental health of our planet.  Earth Day is observed in the United States, Canada and many other countries around the world with programs designed to educate people about Earth's environment and threats to the environment.  Activities intended to improve the environment also take place. 

Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970 by it founder Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.  By 1990 Earth Day had become an international event with more than 200 milion people in 141 countries participating.  Environmental groups use Earth Day as an occasion to draw attention to current local and global environmental problesm and to discuss commonsense solutions."

Please show you care about our waterways, and join us at our first cleanup for 2010 on April 24th at 10:00am at the Massapequa Lake to celebrate Earth Day.  Bring friends!  Hope to see you there!

World Ocean Day is June 8th

According to the Ocean Project, "the concept for World Oceans Day was proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then.  As of 2009, World Oceans Day has been officially declared by the United Nations as June 8th every year!

World Oceans Day is a powerful opportunity to bring local and global attention to the impact climate change is having on the ocean, what that impact will mean for ocean and human life, and how we can all make simple, important changes to reduce our CO2 emissions, halt climate change, and preserve our children's ocean legacy.  Helping make others more aware of the importance of the ocean in our lives, the opporutnities each of us has to help through our daily actions, and by joining with people all over the world in celebrating World Oceans Day, we can make a real difference for our ocean, climate and future."

Celebrate our ocean by helping us to remove debris on June 12th @ 10:00am at Tobay Marina. 

Many many thanks to all 31 of you (including the Town of Oyster Bay's Environmental Resources official) who participated in our W.A.K.E. U.P. World Oceans Day Cleanup Event on Saturday, June 12th at 10:00am.  The clouds protected us from the suns harsh rays (whew!) and our Executive Officer Butch and Sue energized us with coffee and bagels...thanks!  We were also joined by the Massapequa chapter of S.P.L.A.S.H.; Vic Conciglio, Lauri Settel, Kathy Ginley and Barbara Ludwig, who arrived by their S.P.L.A.S.H. boat and ventured to the little island opposite Tobay Marina and retrieved a ridiculous amount of debris.  We split into groups and cleaned the bbq area of Tobay marina, parking lots, beach, and various paths leading to the restaurant and children's park.  We filled 17 bags approximately eighing 163 pounds and spend an estimated 16 1/2 hours.  GREAT JOB!!!  Top offenders:  361 cigarette filters, 172 food wrappers, 168 plastic beverage bottles, 167 beer caps, 131 plastic bags, 118 cups, plates, knives, forks, spoons and 99 pieces of building materials.  The amount of debris retrieved may not appear to be a significant amount, however, for a marina that has not been fully operational due to electrical problems...it is.

Marine debris kills.  Animals choke or become poisoned when they eat trash and drown when they become entangled in bags, ropes and fishing gear.  Humans create marine debris, we must take responsibility for it.  Please be aware.  Please care.  Please show others that we are the solution by putting trash in its place and picking up trash when it is not in its place.  Remember the 3 r's: recycle, reuse, reduce!  During this boating season start an ocean emotion!  Enjoy our waterways, but protect them as well.

Our next cleanup event will be on September 25th at 10:00am at Tobay Marina for the 25th Anniversary of the Ocean Conservancy's International Cleanup.  Hope to see you there!

The Ocean Conservancy's

 International Coastal Cleanup Day

The Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup Day is normally held the third Saturday of every September.  Ocean Conservancy has changed the official date of the cleanup by one week to September 25 in 2010 to avoid conflict with Yom Kippur.  The Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup Day is the world's oldest and largest volunteer effort to cleanup our marine environment.  It involves people like you to remove trash and debris from our beaches and waterways, and, most importantly, identify the trash source.  Young and old can participate in this event.  Your involvement on this day will truly make a difference. 

According to the American Littoral Society, there was a total of 9,896 volunteers at almost 300 sites, scoured 300 miles of shoreline, and collected 134,530 pounds of debris!  Whew!  Thanks for your efforts and congratulations to our volunteers who participated in this event!  The 2009 data collected reveals the following “Dirty Dozen”: 61,260 cigarettes/filters; 29,987 food wrappers/containers; 38,183 caps/lids; 21,596 beverage bottles (plastic);  17,508 cups, forks, knives, spoons; 15,010 beverage bottles (glass); 13,884 beverage cans; 17,999 straws, stirrers; 5,740 balloons; 25,309 plastic bags; 9,021 paper bags, and 6,389 clothing, shoes. Trash is one of the most widespread pollution problems threatening our ocean and waterways.  Trash doesn't fall from the sky, it falls from our hands, and what falls from human hands can be prevented.  We are #4 in the U.S. with the greatest number of participants after California, Florida and North Carolina.

This is the Ocean Conservancy's 25th anniversary for the International Cleanup.  Please come out and join us on September 25, 2010 at 10:00am at Tobay Marina!  Let's make this anniversary cleanup our most productive!  Let's show our community that we care and we can make a difference!

Make a Difference Day 

According to USA Weekend Magazine, Make a Difference Day is the most encompassing national day of helping others - a celebration of neighbors helping neighor.  Everyone can participate.  Created by USA Weekend Magazine, Make a Difference Day is an annual event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October.  Projects can be as large or as small as we wish.  We need to look around our community and see what needs to be done.  We know what needs to be done!  We need to remove debris before it reaches our waterways, and if it is in our waterways, we need to retrieve it.  What better day to roll up our sleeves and continue our commitment to keeping our waterways clean?  Since our squadrons Stag Cruise is on the fourth Saturday of October (23rd) we plan to have our last cleanup on Saturday, October 16 at Massapequa Lake at 10:00am in recognition of Make a Difference Day.

  Volunteers, do you know what you make?  You make a difference! 

Please join us!

  Together we will work to do our part to help solve this worldwide problem!

Please visit our other pages on this website for information and tips on "Environmental Issues", "Safety Tips", "Boaters Awareness & Stewardship", "Event Photos" and more!

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