Swampscott’s Phillips Beach ditching trash cans

SWAMPSCOTT – Starting June 28, visitors to Phillips Beach in Swampscott will have to carry in and carry out all trash because the beach will no longer have trash receptacles.Recreation Director Danielle Strauss said Phillips Beach will be the setting for the pilot program for the carry in/carry out concept at Swampscott beaches. If it is successful at Phillips this summer, all other Swampscott beaches will be part of the program next year.Strauss said the move is to free staffing for Department of Public Works so workers won’t have to come pick up trash, but she is also hoping the move will make the beaches eco-friendly.If there is less trash spilling out of receptacles, there will be less for animals to pick up and choke on or spread around town, said Strauss.Also, she is hoping that by requiring people to take home their trash, they will be more likely to recycle it at home, since there were no recycling receptacles on the beach before.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].