NAHANT – Nahant’s Safer Waters in Massachusetts (SWIM) is gearing up to continue the tradition of its autumn beach clean up on Sept. 28, with a special appearance from Phil Colarusso, marine biologist from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Since 1984, Nahant SWIM Inc. has worked to protect our regional waters, beaches and land from pollution and other harm, according to its mission statement online.
“SWIM has two cleanups each year, a spring clean up that’s done entirely by SWIM, which roughly 15-16 years ago,” President Vi Patek explained. “The women’s club decided it was time to help out clean the beaches.”
She cited that when the group first began the endeavor, they discovered items like fridges, cars and “everything imaginable.”
Patek continued, noting that the event caught a wide net of volunteers throughout town who came to help participate, prompting the decision to keep it an annual tradition.
“It switched to a different group, then SWIM took it over, and we’ve been doing it ever since,” Patek said.
She noted that the autumn clean up has been going strong for 5-6 years, in collaboration with COASTSWEEP, a state-wide beach cleanup that’s organized by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zoning Management (CZM).
According to mass.gov, over last 37 years, 100,000 coast sweep volunteers have worked to remove 1,000,000 pounds of debris from shores around Massachusetts.
Patek explained the impact she hopes participants will take away from volunteering.
“I think the whole community recognizes that the beaches are cleaner. … What’s really interesting is that a lot of the debris on the beaches was old,” Patek said. “Tudor Beach had some old rope that was ground down to small pieces, and it took a few years of annual clean ups, but we picked it all up, and the stuff that’s coming in now is all newer debris.”
Acting Town Administrator Alison Nieto expressed that it’s a great way of giving back to the community.
“It’s something that everyone can help with and pitch in, and I think it’s a great way to give back to the community, especially after summer is over. … To help make sure its safe for wildlife and everyone, I think it’s a great effort,” Nieto said.
