Third Beach (Middletown) Trash Collected: 2.8 lbs. (Rusty pipe – 1 lb.)

My last beach. Third Beach is on the Sakonnet River in between Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge and the Norman Bird Sanctuary. It’s both a pleasure beach and a boating beach on a small harbor. Sailboats are moored offshore, bobbing in the wind and the waves. A kayaker floats by.

I walk this small beach, gathering plastic here and there. A seagull picks a clam shell from the water, holds it in his beak, and hops onto a rock. He slides into the water and floats along, still holding the clam shell in his beak, his head held high. I find pieces of soda cans, more plastic, small plastic bags, and a rusty pipe.

A couple in a kayak come into view, paddle onto shore and jump out. They smile at me, and I smile back. ‘How’s the water?’ I say. ‘Great, but we got a little stuck around the corner’, they reply.

I walk back up to my car and weigh my trash. Including the pipe it’s just under 3 pounds. I drive up to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge to take a walk, see the view and watch the sunset.

Saving the Beaches We Love

If you love the beach, you should go to the beach. There’s nothing like the beaches we love. And it’s great to go with others. The waves, the sun, the sand, the sounds. Our favorite places and our favorite memories, time after time.

We should enjoy the beaches we love but we have to save the beaches we love – for ourselves and for others. How to enjoy and save at the same time? Just think about how much you love the beach, and care for it the way you care for anything you love. From there it’s easy to enjoy the beach and save the beach – you’ll love being there even more.

Do you love the beach? What would you do to make beaches more trash free? Tell us – we’d like to hear!