Salisbury Reservation
For our district and surrounding towns, the Salisbury Beach reservation area is an essential part of our communities. With miles of scenic beachfront for boating, swimming, and even camping, Salisbury Beach gets many visitors from all over. Unfortunately, many of those visitors bring litter and trash, which pollutes the reservation sites and ocean.
Litter is an ongoing issue at Salisbury Beach and becomes even more problematic during the summer. The Salisbury Beach State Reservation receives more than a million visitors yearly. Many people come in and out of the beach, leaving large amounts of food wrappers, soda and beer cans, fishing lines, large plastics, etc.
The beach site is not the only part of the reservation being polluted with trash. The 484 campground sites located nearby are also suffering from huge amounts of waste and trash, especially during camping season.
Camping, fishing, boating, and other recreational activities create huge amounts of trash that destroy Salisbury’s large and essential ecosystem.
Salisbury Beach is home to a wild variety of wildlife, from humpback whales to snowy owls. This ongoing issue of overwhelming trash and litter kills these species and destroys their habitat.
Trash Maintenance
Salisbury’s trash issue is not entirely the visitors’ fault. For example, insufficient trash cans and disposal areas make it more of a hassle on the visitors’ and discourage them from cleaning up after themselves. The insufficient trash cans also mean there is a huge overflow of trash, particularly during peak season. Many have speculated that the reservation does a poor job of emptying the bins and keeping them accessible and clean.
Alongside inadequate bin maintenance, Salisbury’s very own employees have been caught and observed littering. A student at Pentucket and a local lifeguard says, “These kinds of actions done by lifeguards at Salisbury is so inappropriate. Lifeguards go through extensive training, which includes not leaving trash. It is sad but unfortunately the reality.”
This kind of behavior contributed by millions is what Salisbury beach has been going through for decades now. The trash found everywhere on the Salisbury Beach reservation affects not just wildlife but it affects you and me as well.
The Trash Effect
Litter and garbage ruins the beach’s aesthetics. It ruins its appearance and generates awful odors and smells. The hot sun heating up plastics and aluminum releases harmful chemicals into the ground, water, and our bodies as well as animals.
Although Salisbury has a trash issue, there are many organizations and communities that assist in keeping our beach clean. The Salisbury Beach Reservation is cleaned daily by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). And the town of Salisbury attempts to pick up trash at numerous points multiple times a day.
Even though Salisbury Beach is cleaned everyday, multiple times a day, trash is still a lingering problem at the reservation. Its immense size and amount of visitors daily makes these organizations’ efforts practically useless.
Be a Part of the Solution
Some ways to do your part as a part of the community and a visitor on the reservation is by always picking up after yourself. Put trash in designated receptacles and avoid receptacles that are filled to the max. If you see trash pick it up, even if it is not yours.
Students at Pentucket can also join the Surf and Service club, a perfect way to join fellow classmates in cleaning up Salisbury Beach including beaches around us.
Lastly, there are many volunteer-led organizations that host beach clean ups such as SBBA, Surfrider Massachusetts, and Keep Massachusetts Beautiful. Many of these organizations not only pick up trash on the beach but they also examine and list the types of trash that is found to try to find trends and where the trash is coming from.
Salisbury Beach is an important area that is loved and reserved by many. It is essential that as a community we keep Salisbury clean and safe for all.
