Independence Day can be a busy time for beach communities along the Oregon coast as people travel for the summertime holiday.
And those visitors can mean trash. Remnants of fireworks, food and beverage containers, and items accidentally or unintentionally left behind, can leave beaches littered the next day.
That is what prompts the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation to hold annual beach cleanups each year on July 5, with volunteers combing the beach for debris. Surfrider calls it "The Dirtiest Beach Day of the Year."
At Nye Beach in Newport, Frank Defilippis is standing at the picnic tables that sit at the entrance. He is what is known as a beach boss, the volunteers who organize and get the other volunteers prepped with trash bags and other things they might need.
“Last night, there was a lot of firework activity on the beach," he said. "So there's always debris associated with that. And people enjoying them themselves, forget to pick up the flip flop, or whatever it is."
The other beach boss today is Cathey Briggs. She is from Portland but spends much of her time at a house she bought in Newport decades ago. She was once honored by the city for her routine efforts cleaning up trash.
“It's way cleaner now. People are way more conscientious, which is a very good thing,” she said.
That sentiment was echoed by her husband, Tom Briggs. He helps pick up litter while his wife organizes.
“The rules limiting the fireworks has had a big impact, and I think there are fewer people living on the beach, because I used to find wet sleeping bags and that sort of stuff,” he said.
Meanwhile, Andrea and Matthew Adamson from Albany are spending part of their weekend at the coast helping to pick up trash.
Matthew likens it to being a good house guest.
“Help them clean up a little, push the vacuum cleaner around the house and straighten up after a party. And you know, it's also a way of saying thank you to the host of the parties, you know, if you're going along with that metaphor,” he said.
Andrea said the idea to come down to help pick up trash came after another family member did the same.
“My daughter was an intern at the aquarium, and they had all their interns do beach clean up on the fifth. And I thought, well, that's a great idea, and coming out here and watching the fireworks is a lot of fun, so then we just stay an extra day and help clean,” she said.
The Oregon Coast Aquarium is also what brought local Emily Wallingford out. She heard about the cleanup from a coworker. Wallingford was able to help clean while walking her dog Bonnie.
“I think everybody that lives here really respects the beach and wants to keep it clean. And, yeah, it's just kind of part of using the beaches. You want to take care of it,” she said.
Two other locals are out with their dogs. Peter Kenyon and his sister Jan, are accompanied by Jazz and Peanut.
“It's my birthday, and I thought that I would give a gift rather than get a gift. So I'm here to do a good deed for the community,” he said.
July 5 is also Jan’s birthday, though they’re not twins. They were born a year apart.
“I've just learned from my teachers, give it away. So rather than get it, give it away. So here we are,” she said.
Walking down from the north with a five-gallon bucket filled with used fireworks is Randy Harmer, who used to work on fishing boats in the area.
“The fish out there don't like this stuff. So that's what really gets me motivated. I like to go deep sea fishing and this will eventually go out there, because the high tides are really high here,” he said.
Harmer is a frequent contributor to the beach cleanups, which Surfrider holds throughout the year. His favorites are the ones where they spice things up with a contest.
“They dump your bucket and look at every item, and you get a prize for the weirdest one."
He said he won the contest on a couple of occasions, including one fall cleanup, when he found a creepy Halloween mask on the beach.
