Fifth year of #DontTrashLISound Campaign Challenges People to “#DoOneThing”

The Long Island Sound Study and its partners are encouraging the Long Island Sound community to #DontTrashLISound! View the social media posts about the problem of debris in the Sound and on its beaches on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. Read about the Aug. 16, 2021 kickoff event in Sherwood Island State Park on the Connecticut Sea Grant website.

Bridget Cevero of the Maritime Aquarium, left, and Annalisa Paltauf of Save the Sound, hold up the 35.75 pounds of trash collected by volunteers at the cleanup at Sherwood Island State Park on Aug. 16. Credit: Judy Benson/Connecticut Sea Grant.

The 2021 #DontTraskLISound campaign, run by the Connecticut and New York Sea Grant programs with support from the Long Island Sound Study, will run through International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 18. It will consist of cleanup events in both states, social media posts and giveaways of “Protect Our Wildlife” stickers for reusable water bottles and travel mugs.

The theme of this year’s campaign, #DoOneThing, encourages people to take at least one action to reduce litter on streets, parks and beaches before it gets carried into waterways and ultimately Long Island Sound. Social media posts will emphasize positive steps people are taking to address the problem.

“Campaigns like this one help keep people aware of the larger marine debris problem affecting Long Island Sound,” said Nancy Balcom, associate director of Connecticut Sea Grant. “They also help people focus on doable actions that we can all undertake with as much or as little effort as we have time to commit.”

A mid-campaign beach cleanup will be held on Aug. 30 at Hallock State Park Preserve in Riverhead NY, hosted by New York Sea Grant and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society. Interested volunteers are encouraged to reach out to NY Sea Grant LISS Outreach Coordinator Jimena Perez-Viscasillas at [email protected].

For information on upcoming cleanup events, visit https://www.savethesound.org/2021cleanup/ for Connecticut and http://www.nysbeachcleanup.org/ for New York.

For information on the #DontTrashLISound campaign and how to obtain “Protect Our Wildlife” stickers, CT Sea Grant Communications Coordinator Judy Benson at [email protected] in CT, or NY Sea Grant LISS Outreach Coordinator Jimena Perez-Viscasillas at [email protected] in NY.

dont trash LISound campaign, new haven lighthouse point parka
Summer camp students from the YWCA in New Britain, and Taraea Ellis, second from left, school-aged teacher at the YWCA, hold up stickers they received while visiting Lighthouse Point Park from the “Don’t Trash Long Island Sound – Break the Single Use Plastic Habit” campaign kickoff in 2019. Judy Benson / Connecticut Sea Grant

Please complete your newsletter signup.