Cleanup removes 144.5 pounds of trash from Corson’s Inlet

Written by Staff Reports Friday, July 06, 2012 01:00 am

OCEAN CITY — Instead of basking in the sun, volunteers stayed on their feet and got their hands dirty as they joined United By Blue and 7th Street Surf Shop for a beach cleanup Saturday, June 30, and removed 144.5 pounds of trash from Corson’s Inlet State Park.

Along with the water bottles and food wrappers typically picked up during a beach cleanup, volunteers found weird trash items including wood filler glue, athletic lanyard, a shoe, a pocketknife, a Spiderman action figure, an electrical wire, a trolley sign, and the winner of the Weirdest Trash Competition: a half-melted candle.

United By Blue and 7th Street Surf Shop thank Surfrider Foundation of South Jersey, Ocean City Football Club, Wards Pastry, Appel Farm Arts and Music Center, Corson Inlet’s State Park and Belleplain State Forest for making this event possible.

“Ecological roots and surfing are hand-in-glove. Oceans and waterway cleanups are something that's needed and should be expanded. Anytime you can raise public awareness for this kind of thing, it's a plus,” said Larry Friedel, 7th Street Surf Shop owner.

7th Street Surf Shop has two main stores: one on the Ocean City Boardwalk overlooking the 7th Street surfing beach and a year-round store at 720 Asbury Ave. in Ocean City. 

“Most beaches on the Jersey Shore are cleaned using tax revenues from the communities. We still were able to collect 144 pounds of trash, even with these beaches being cleaned regularly, which just goes to show how big the problem of ocean pollution really is,” said Brian Linton, United By Blue chief trash collector and founder.

United By Blue is an ocean-friendly brand of apparel that removes one pound of trash from ocean and waterways for every product sold.

The 144.5 pounds of trash removed from Corson’s Inlet State Park brought United By Blue’s total trash elimination to 135,138 pounds since the creation of United By Blue in 2010.