Ocean Springs Middle School Takes Action and Tackles Debris on Deer Island

Ocean Springs Middle School came out on November 7th, 2012 to take marine debris head on!  We set out on the Sea Explorer to clean up site #1 on the North side of  Deer Island and man did we find a lot.

The debris was trying to hide in the grasses planted on the island... we found those sneaky pieces of trash.  They went through all the vegetation in the half mile segment and collected a lot of curious things such as, large fragments of a foam-core sign, coat hangers, door knobs from boats and a 55 gallon drum!

The most interesting pieces of debris collected are pictured below.  We were all on our hands and knees, digging up a Coke factory plastic pallet, pair that with other Coca-Cola beverage containers and the students from Ocean Springs Middle School and you get a great photo opportunity!  This is a clear message that we are responsible for the proper disposal of what we consume, plastic bottles and styrofoam cups are two of the most commonly collected pieces of debris on Deer Island.

The students were very diligent and put forth a strong effort collecting everything from the plastic pallet pictured above to large pieces of treated wood covered in fabric!  They got really excited when they spotted  a 55 gallon drum further down the shoreline, so the boys ran down to collect it, eager to remove something so large and surprisingly entertaining =)

Let the games begin...

Let the games continue...

We all took turns moving the larger pieces of debris down the island towards the boat, the guys pictured below decided to carry this piece of treated wood a little differently.  Who knew debris removal could be this much fun?!  (I did!)

Congratulations to you all, we collected a total of 533.04 lbs of debris along a half-mile segment!  I really appreciate all your hard work, we filled the wheel barrow until it was over-flowing!  I enjoyed working with you all and I hope that you continue to educate others about the marine debris problem and what we can do to help =)

Good attitudes, hard work and no fear of getting your hands dirty made you all a great group to work with!

Keep it clean to keep it green =)