Hi Joey,
Just got back from California and I was so jealous of the trash free beaches, beaches that continue for hundreds of miles and are open to the public year round!!! What a concept, trash cans on a beach! Obviously the trash cans create good behavior, unlike having no trash cans, like our trash infested beaches in Gloucester. This is coming from California, a state that is nearly bankrupt! Trash cans every twenty yards and the town employees in place to pick them up. Daily!!! Wow, there was even fire pits scattered all over to encourage eating and drinking on the beach. Not alcohol though, because it’s not allowed. Maybe that’s the answer, no alcohol allowed on the beach would also help with the litter bugs from being little piggies. Yes it costs money, who cares! Spend my tax money on something besides EBT Cards and sex changes for convicted murderers. Where are our local and State officials to champion this effort to clean up these beautiful natural resources we call our local beaches? I am constantly amazed that no one cares. Enjoy your summer!
Bill
Good Morning Gloucester 
Thanks, Bill, for pointing this out. This is one more example of how Gloucester beaches are NOT human friendly. I couldn’t believe when I moved here in the ’80s and saw signs that say beaches CLOSE at 9pm (or what ever time it is) CLOSE? What’s that? I grew up in NY, where beaches never close. You can sleep overnight on the beach, build a fire (local stores sell firewood specifically for beach fires), cook and even drink alcohol. And, yes, Bill, they have trash cans. Long Island beaches are nearly spotless. OK, we conducted an experiment, here in Gloucester, and the results are perfectly clear — If you don’t want trash on the beach, you have to have trash cans. Obvious, really. Gloucester could easily pay for trash removal by enforcing littering fines. Charge every inconsiderate moron who drops a cigarette but on the beach the maximum littering fine. (I stopped counting the number of cigarette buts I took out of my toddler’s mouths long ago.)
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Not gonna happen..they’ve wrongly convinced themselves that “carry in carry out” is working….It ain’t !
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From West coast beaches, Hawaii, to the Outer Banks to the Jersey shore, to Gloucester and beyond, it is sadly true that Gloucester’s/Rockport’s beaches are not the cleanest by a long shot. While it doesn’t change our love for the area, it does make us wish the towns could clean up their acts. That said, over the past 35 years or so, the streets and sidewalks have improved immensely and seem cleaner than ever. I applaud that people are cleaning up after their dogs at long last. I know that many of you have taken it upon yourselves to clean up different areas–that is awesome, but I agree with Vickie & Peter that trash cans are a necessity!
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I agree there should be trash cans on the beach. But EBT cards is the target trade program? Regardless of what you think about the choices of the parents, the SNAP program feeds millions of hungry kids who are by their nature innocent victims. In my own case when my father died in the 80s we were on food stamps for a year. It kept us alive until my mother could find work. I am now a taxpaying citizen, have been for my whole life. I do not begrudge hungry kids some food, even if there is waste in the program. We wast money on far worse things.
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Thank you for this perspective, James.
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Bravo! I have thankfully never needed assistance (knock on wood) but would never suggest that program is a burden…what happened to help thy neighbor?? Yikes.
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Be careful Bill!! We only talk about butterflies, birds, unicorns and Martha Stewart!!
I couldn’t agree more w your comments though.
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oh!please! CC
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You seem to be right about that Mark.
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Sadly it is not just the beaches that are littered with trash. Take a stroll on any road in Gloucester and you will see years worth of trash scattered far into our roadside woods. It seems to be a mindset around here that litter is someone else’s problem. Unsecured trash, our open recycling bins (we live in a windy area with lots of wildlife),litter blowing out from the back of trucks, people throwing their Dunkin Donut Cups and empty alcohol containers out their cars windows, etc. etc. etc..It’s time for us to finally realize that this is a City wide pride issue that affects the quality of all of our lives.Let’s remove our blinders, take responsibility and start a City wide clean up initiative. Not for just today but for tomorrow.
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no worries, just throw it in the ocean. it will eventually make it to 1 of the many “trash islands” i grew up in weymouth which is basically the armpit of the south shore and yes there are barrels on the beach. besides the many pollutants in the water there.i.e proctorn gamble,fertlizer plant, old weapons depot. the beaches are clean of trash. the junkies even throw out there needles. time for a change.
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Why is everyone blaming someone else? What ever happened to picking up after yourself? From what I’ve seen, the ones not picking up ALL of their trash are big groups with young kids. There used to be trash cans, but they were always overflowing by the end of the day. And they attract bees and seagulls (who make their own mess), so I have to say I’m in favor of carry in/carry out. You may have noticed that beaches aren’t the only places using this tactic. Businesses use so many plastic bags for purchases, surely everyone has enough to pack a few along with towels, etc. to bring to the beach. Treat the beach like your home or school lunch room. Everyone is expected to pick up after themselves there, so why not at the beach. There shouldn’t have to be special cleanup days, just pick up after yourself. It’s not that difficult. I’ve seen groups of teens do a better job than groups that happen to include young kids. The worst place is the parking lots. How can anyone just leave their trash on the ground? And this is done by adults! Come on now adults. Set an example. As someone once said, “You’re mother doesn’t work there.”,
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I don’t see anyone blaming someone else in this dialogue. What we’re saying is that the results of the experiment are clear. Carry in/carry out doesn’t work. The only reason trash cans were overflowing before is that they weren’t emptied. So let’s be clear, you have to have trash cans AND they have to be emptied. Pretty simple really. And not very expensive — like I said before: easily funded by littering fines. Plus Bill makes another good point, people PAY to go to the beaches. Even residents pay to get a sticker. Why on Earth should we be expected to cart out trash after paying big bucks to park there? Where else are you expected to gather up trash and put it in your car? People just aren’t equipped for that.
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Carry in carry out isn’t working, obviously. It doesn’t work in Gloucester or any other town in any country in the world for that matter. I want to hear a good reason why the town is putting the responsibility on us to carry out our trash from a place that we all pay to spend time at. Certain venues are way to populated at certain times to expect carry out to work. It’s not done at Fenway Park, or Gillette, or the Topsfield Fair and so on. Why? Because it wouldn’t work. We live in a world where there are to many “untrained Rats” amongst us. And I don’t want to depend on them doing the right thing to keep the place that I live clean and trash free. Since our government likes for us to be so dependent on them, Im asking to be dependent on them to use my money and keep the beaches and town that I live in clean.
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