NUKOLI‘I — Larry Littleton found a baseball in the unlikeliest of places on Sunday. The orb was found among the marine debris at Nukoli‘i Beach where he joined more than a dozen volunteers in a Surfrider Foundation beach cleanup coinciding
NUKOLI‘I — Larry Littleton found a baseball in the unlikeliest of places on Sunday.
The orb was found among the marine debris at Nukoli‘i Beach where he joined more than a dozen volunteers in a Surfrider Foundation beach cleanup coinciding with International Surfing Day.
Reece Cline, 10, of Texas, was lugging his bucket of trash to the central collection area.
“This is not the funnest thing to do,” said Cline, who is visiting his aunt on Kaua‘i. “But it’s good for the Earth.”
The Kaua‘i Chapter of Surfrider Foundation saw Barbara Wiendner spearheading the Father’s Day beach cleanup this year.
“June 20 is the summer solstice, the longest day of summer, for the northern hemisphere,” Wiedner said in an e-mail. “It is with ISD tradition that we pick the summer solstice as the date we kick off our celebrations.”
Littleton and the Kaua‘i beach cleanup volunteers spent most of the morning grooming the beaches of assorted marine debris that included lengths of rope and twine, a discarded marine fuel container, eel traps, cigarette lighters, plastic bags and more.
To help replenish energy, Olympic Café provided pupu and Starbucks Coffee had liquid refreshments for the volunteers.
The cleanup efforts were also happening throughout the state. In Kona on the Big Island, volunteers were scheduled to spruce up Ali‘i Drive. The Maui Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation did a beach cleanup at the Hoaloha Park at the Kahului Harbor and the O‘ahu Chapter spruced up the Diamond Head area.
Rebekah Haroldsen volunteered at the Garden Isle’s cleanup with her 2-year-old son. She is leading the Hands Across the Sands effort on Kaua‘i, a global demonstration against offshore oil drilling following the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Initiatives centering around the resulting oil spill are also mentioned on the ISD website, but Haroldsen said Hands Across the Sands is a demonstration for the need for alternative fuel sources.
“It’s going to start in the Far East, and … at noon in each time zone, people will join hands for 15 minutes as a united effort against offshore drilling,” Haroldsen said. “When the first one was done in February in Florida, more than 10,000 people showed up. This one should be bigger because it’s worldwide. Hawai‘i is the last place where people will join hands at noon so it should be a big celebration.”
Originally, Hanalei Beach near the pier was the only site designated for the Hands Across the Sand event. Since then, Haroldsen said Diana LaBedz will be leading an event Saturday at Lydgate Park.
ISD was founded by the Surfrider Foundation and SURFING Magazine.
“In the past six years, ISD has managed to influence some major players, clean tons of trash off the beach and score some amazing waves,” Travis Ferre says on the ISD Web site.
