It’s all about creating a ripple, with the hope that children who learn about the environment will share the message with their friends and family, and they, too, will care for the coast in their own way.
About 1,000 students from 12 inland schools throughout Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana and Fullerton visited Huntington State Beach on Tuesday, May 21, to help spruce up the beach and share a message on the sand using their bodies to form the words “Make Ripples,” as in make ripples of positive change, organizers said.
The annual Kids Ocean Day is put together by Orange County Coastkeeper, inviting elementary-age kids who first learn related lessons in the classroom and then head to the beach to help see first hand the impacts of pollution on the coast.
“The whole goal is life-long learning, getting them to the beach … learning to pack it in and pack it out,” said Matt Sylvester, spokesperson for Orange County Coastkeeper. “If you’re going to bring stuff, we want to take that trash out, maybe even take a few more pieces out to put in the trash bins. So they can tell friends, siblings or parents, even, to change the way they go to the beach and engage with the environment.”
Kids Ocean Day focuses on reaching students from communities that are vulnerable to environmental pollutants and face disproportionate barriers to coastal access, according to the nonprofit organization.
By providing an opportunity to meaningfully interact with nature, the annual event educates the next generation of ocean advocates and empowers them to value and protect our environment, organizers said.
On Tuesday the visiting students picked up more than 300 pounds of trash.
For some, it’s their first-time ever at the beach, a chance for them to get their feet in the sand and smell the salty air, Sylvester said.
“We get to be there for their magical first moment,” he said. “It’s a great way to celebrate the end of the school year with their class and learn the lesson right before the summer seasons, when many of them may be coming to the coast for beach days.”
Among the most common items found on the beach is plastic pollution. The lessons they learn include how one small piece of trash left on the ground can make its way down the watershed and into the ocean – showing that their home, wherever they live, connects to the beach.
“We’re all connected to it and we all have a responsibility and love for it,” Sylvester said. “It’s about making a ripple in your community, and if we empower these kids and let them have a great day, they can go home and tell someone, and maybe they’ll think about it and become a watershed hero and coastal steward.”
