Angela Zbikowski and her 12-year-old daughter Krista, of Washington Township, Gloucester County, show off a miniature Barbie mermaid doll that was among the debris they picked up.
By Donald Wittkowski
Angela Zbikowski and her family come to Ocean City every year for summer vacations, spending much of their time soaking up the sun during languid days on the beach.
On a chilly and overcast Saturday morning, Zbikowski and her 12-year-old daughter, Krista, were out on the beaches again, but this time for a decidedly different reason.
The Zbikowskis and hundreds of other volunteers fanned out across the beachfront to pick up cigarette butts, paper wrappers, bottle caps, straws and other assorted trash as part of an annual event to give the coastline a thorough, pre-summer cleaning.
“We spend our vacations here every year. Ocean City is just so family-oriented, safe and clean. We want to keep it that way,” said Angela Zbikowski, of Washington Township, Gloucester County.
Ocean City was among dozens of New Jersey coastal communities participating Saturday in the annual Beach Sweeps event sponsored by the environmental group Clean Ocean Action. Entertainment giant Comcast partnered with Ocean City and Clean Ocean Action to organize the cleanup.
Charlotte Moyer, an office supervisor with the Ocean City Public Works Department, estimated that 200 to 250 volunteers scoured the beaches from Longport to 52nd Street. She said the event helps put the beaches in pristine shape heading into the peak summer tourist season and also teaches people some important lessons about the environment.
“We want to educate everyone, particularly the younger people, about the importance of not polluting the beaches and the waterways,” said Moyer, who served as the city’s organizer of the cleanup.
Moyer also noted that Ocean City wants to protect its reputation as a premier beachfront resort. On April 11, Ocean City won the title of “Best Beach in America” in a national online poll conducted by Coast Living Magazine.
“Obviously, we were voted the No. 1 beach in America,” Moyer said. “It obviously does make an impression, especially being a family resort, to have clean, litter-free beaches. That really helps us to attract the tourists.”
Jerry Fournier, a maintenance supervisor for Comcast, said the beach cleanup has grown in the 15 years it has been held in Ocean City. Fournier, who serves as Comcast’s organizer of the event, recalled that only about 40 volunteers showed up during the first year.
Ocean City’s beaches actually were pretty clean even before the event began Saturday, but some touch-up work was needed, Fournier explained.
“The main things that people are finding are cigarette butts,” he said. “I also saw a lot of bottle caps, paper products and paper wrappers.”
Over the years, some far more bizarre things have been removed from the beaches during the sweeps, including dead animals and sea creatures and even car parts, Fournier said.
Miss Columbus Day Madison Kennelly, who will compete in the Miss New Jersey Pageant in Ocean City in June, found some popcorn bags and a table chair while helping to clean up the beach Saturday.
“It was some of the simplest things and some of the most abstract things that were cleaned up,” said the 17-year-old Kennelly, who lives in Tuckahoe.
Meantime, Angela Zbikowski and daughter Krista were busy stuffing trash bags with odds and ends and just plain old junk. Krista showed off a miniature Barbie mermaid doll that she plucked off the beach.
Giving the Zbikowskis a hand in cleaning up the beach at Ninth Street were Bea Figueroa and her sons, Alex, 11, and Nick, 7, of Pine Hill, Camden County. Alex, a fifth-grader, said it gave him great satisfaction knowing that he was helping to protect the environment.
“This litter shows that some people don’t care about the Earth and the ocean,” he said. “By helping to clean it up, I get a sense of doing something that’s right.”
Angela Zbikowski and Bea Figueroa were among the Comcast employees who volunteered for the beach cleanup. They made it a family affair, as did fellow Comcast employee Adam Ingels, who was accompanied by his wife, Amber, and 3-year-old son Adam.
“We’re giving back to the community,” said Adam Ingels, who lives in Glassboro, Gloucester County. “First we’ll be cleaning up and then we’ll be walking on the Boardwalk for the rest of the day.”
As their son played on the beach, Adam and Amber Ingels picked up some trash that was inside the dune line at Seventh Street. They mostly found bottle caps, paper wrappers, straws and lots of cigarette butts.
Participants in the beach sweep were asked to fill out cards that gave an inventory of the litter they collected. Data from the cards will be used by Clean Ocean Action to help identify pollution trends in the waters off New Jersey’s coast.
