The Beach Community Action Group’s first cleanup took place on Saturday, September 20, , and nearly 50 people came to clean the two-mile stretch of North Nantasket beach. Volunteers collected dozens of bags of trash, along with large debris, including boat doors, buoys, lumber, and hazardous items, such as nail-filled boards and syringes.

Volunteer Emily Cookson of Hull estimates she picked up nearly 400 items of manmade waste during the two-hour cleanup.

“While there were certainly larger items, there were plenty of small plastic things like bottle caps and plastic fragments,” she said. “When you consider the number of volunteers who showed up today, we removed a lot of trash and put it in its proper place.”

Nantasket Paint and Hardware and Dunkin’ Donuts provided donations to support the cleanup, which operates within the confines of the Wetlands Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, town bylaws, and other rules and regulations. The Beach Community Action Group worked in conjunction with Hull DPW to coordinate the debris pickup, and with the conservation department to ensure volunteers were picking up trash according to best practices in conservation and beach management.

The Beach Community Action Group was created just eight weeks ago by a group of concerned Hull citizens, including Kelly Crummey, Mitch Fishman, Susan Mann, and Valerio Romano. It is a volunteer organization dedicated to keeping North Nantasket Beach enjoyable, clean from trash and debris, and safe for Hull residents and guests.

Since forming on July 31, the group quickly organized and set up a website, social media, and invested in backend technology infrastructure to help automate various functions of organizing a volunteer event, such as volunteer sign-up, completion of liability waivers, creation of check-in lists, and sending reminders and other essential communications. As a result of this investment, the logistics and volunteer hours required to run a cleanup or event are drastically reduced, and the group can now quickly execute any new project using this platform.

“From this first cleanup, the community of people serving as stewards of Hull’s most precious resource will only grow,” Crummey said. “We believe our group will become a powerful force in preserving the beauty of our beach, ensuring the safety of our beach, and educating the community at large about the importance of protecting our beaches for future generations.”

Crummey noted that now that the first cleanup is behind them, the Beach Community Action Group members already are looking ahead and planning educational programs for this winter, as well as another beach cleanup in the spring.

If you would like to learn more about upcoming activities or how to get involved, visit www.hullbeachcommunity.org or join the Beach Community Action Group on Facebook.

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