& f t deck 



Big Sweep 

 Sweeps Again 



If it's September, it must be time 

 for Big Sweep. 



The First Citizens Bank Big 

 Sweep, the nation's largest statewide 

 waterway litter cleanup, will be held 

 Saturday, Sept. 18 from 9 a.m. to 1 

 p.m. at more than 300 shoreside sites 

 from the mountains to the sea. 



The cleanup, now in its seventh 

 year, strives to rid waterways of litter 

 that can kill and maim wildlife, injure 

 people, ruin boat motors and render our 

 natural vistas unsightly. 



Litter pickup sites are located in 

 almost every Tar Heel county; so vol- 

 unteers can choose a waterway close to 

 home or a beach, river or lake close to 

 their heart. 



To locate cleanup sites, call the 

 MCI toll-free hotline at 1-800-27- 

 SWEEP between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. 

 Monday through Friday. Volunteer op- 

 erators will be standing by to help call- 

 ers choose a location or direct them to 

 county coordinators. 



Or stop by a branch of First Citi- 

 zens Bank in late August to pick up a 

 brochure describing the event and list- 

 ing Big Sweep locations. 



Big Sweep Executive Director 

 Susan Bartholomew encourages indi- 

 viduals, families and groups — civic 

 clubs, school classes, Scout troops, 

 church groups and 4-H clubs — to join 

 the cleanup effort. Collecting litter pro- 

 vides an education in stewardship of 

 natural resources and a lesson in litter 

 awareness. 



Participants also receive an edu- 

 cation in data collection. Besides bag- 

 ging litter, volunteers record their 

 trashy finds on data cards. Later the 

 information is compiled and used by 

 Big Sweep coordinators to pinpoint 

 trends and determine the sources of 

 aquatic debris. 



"I can almost guarantee that any- 

 one who attends Big Sweep and fills 

 bag after bag with nasty trash will 

 never toss a piece of litter overboard or 

 drop it shoreside again," says 

 Bartholomew. "Four hours of picking 

 up litter will make you disgusted with 

 other people, but it can also make you 

 feel good about yourself for doing 

 something positive to clean up the envi- 

 ronment." 



Last year, about 12,500 volunteers 

 bagged 256 tons of debris from state 

 waterways. Trash collectors amassed 

 tons of tires, piles of plastic bottles, 

 mounds of metal cans and gallons of 

 glass. 



To further support this environ- 

 mental effort, buy a Big Sweep T-shirt 

 conveying the message: "I've Had It 

 Up To Here With Water Pollution." 

 This year's shirt sports a gray back- 

 ground with an array of inland and 

 coastal water critters in colorful tones 

 of blue, teal and magenta. 



T-shirts, available in medium and 

 extra-large sizes, cost $12, which in- 

 cludes postage. They can be purchased 

 from Big Sweep, P.O. Box 550, Ra- 

 leigh, NC 27602. Make checks or 

 money orders payable to Big Sweep. 

 All the money collected from T-shirt 

 sales aids educational efforts. 



One educational project aimed at 

 boaters and fishermen will keep litter 

 from washing ashore. Big Sweep just 

 produced a nylon mesh boat litterbag 

 imprinted with the message: "Don't 

 Splash Your Trash." 



The 12-by-23 inch drawstring 

 bags are being given to boaters and 

 fishermen at fishing tournaments, mari- 

 nas, boating safety classes and N.C. 

 Wildlife Resources Commission 

 CATCH clinics. Carolina Power & 

 Light, Duke Power and Tennessee Val- 

 ley Authority, the sponsors of the bags, 

 will also be helping to distribute them 



at their company-owned lakes. 



If you would like a bag, please 

 write Big Sweep at the address above, 

 and enclose $1 .50 to cover mailing 

 costs. 



Big Sweep is led by a board of di- 

 rectors representing Sea Grant; First 

 Citizens Bank; Carolinas Glass Recy- 

 cling Program; Carolina Power & Light; 

 Duke Power; Keep North Carolina 

 Clean and Beautiful; Keep Wayne 

 County Beautiful; N.C. 4-H; N.C. De- 

 partment of Environment, Health and 

 Natural Resources; N.C. Division of 

 Coastal Management; N.C. Division of 

 Parks and Recreation; N.C. Wildlife Re- 

 sources Commission; Rowan County 

 Parks and Recreation; R.J. Reynolds To- 

 bacco Co.; Wake County Keep America 

 Beautiful; and WGHPiedmont 8. 



Posters Foster Water 

 Stewardship 



Connecticut Sea Grant has two 

 new colorful posters about water pollu- 

 tion that are ideal for educators. 



The smaller 11 -by- 18 1/2 inch 

 poster, How Bays and Estuaries are Pol- 

 luted, uses four-color graphics from U.S. 

 News and World Report to describe how 

 factories, farms and residential areas 

 contribute to coastal contamination. 



The larger 18-by-24 inch poster, 

 Environmental Stewardship, was pro- 

 duced to educate people about the link 

 between their everyday activities and 

 water pollution. It describes the water 

 cycle, watersheds, runoff and proper dis- 

 posal of hazardous wastes. The poster 

 also provides a clean water shopping 

 guide and tips about how homeowners 

 can help improve water quality. 



To receive single copies of these 

 free posters, write Connecticut Sea 

 Grant, University of Connecticut, 1084 

 Shennecossett Road, Groton, CT 06340- 

 5108. 



COASTWATCH 23 



