Hansen: Keep it clean is a simple lesson from the sea for students

His parents were scuba divers, and he remembers them emerging from the ocean like the “Scooby-Doo” swamp monster carrying trash.

Sure, they may have had some fish too, but it was the trash that he remembers.

“It was about 40 years ago, but that made an impact,” said Rick Conkey, who is launching a countywide beach cleanup effort with the nonprofit group Blue Water Green Earth.

Over the years, he’s seen the trash pile up on local beaches. He’s heard the news about the massive floating trash pile that roams the Pacific Ocean. He’s seen in his own neighborhood the cigarette butts that sit in gutters just waiting to be flushed to the ocean.

Conkey knows there are other clean-up crews like ZeroTrash.org which promotes a cleanup effort on the first Saturday of the month. Other cities and groups have periodic cleanup activities as well. But in Conkey’s view, while all of that is good, nothing is very comprehensive or sustained. So he thought a better way might be through the schools.

“Education is a good place to start,” he said. “This program targets high school kids. It’s a way to educate them and get them to be stewards of the ocean, which is long overdue.”

Conkey, whose effort is called Blue Water Stations, has partnered with about a dozen surf and dive shops in coastal cities from Seal Beach to San Clemente to offer beach cleanup to high school students who are required to perform a community service for graduation. He also has approval from the Coastal Commission.

“It’s about time. It’s really needed,” he said. “The trash in the ocean is getting worse, and that huge gyre that’s floating out there in the South Pacific is getting bigger.”

Gyre is an oceanic term for the rotating ocean currents. They often collect and trap debris, especially plastic. The one in the Pacific is estimated to be at least the size of Texas, and depending on how it’s measured, it can include a debris radius twice the size of the U.S.

Conkey hopes that the partnership among the schools, shops and other environmental groups will lead to more than just a check mark on a form but instead will introduce kids to a lifetime of awareness.

“When you start to look at the numbers of kids who have to do community service hours to graduate from high school, and knowing they struggle to find programs that align with their interests, this is an extremely important problem along the California coastline that needed to be taken to a larger level,” he said. “We need to raise awareness.”

The way it works is fairly straightforward. Schoolkids can go to the participating shops with their community service form, get some gloves and bags, and consult with the shop workers on where to go to clean up garbage.

“The good thing about doing this in the surf shops is that the people who are working there have a pretty good handle of the coastline because they are watermen themselves, so they have a good idea of where the trash exists,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be the coastline. It can be in the streets. Everything goes downhill and usually ends up in the ocean. So if there is a block around the surf shop that’s dirty, they can have that as an assignment as well.”

The Coastal Commission is providing the initial biodegradeable gloves, along with a waiver saying the group is not at fault if a high schooler gets hurt on the beach. Otherwise, it’s all about the cleanup.

The student-related program is launching this month but may not be in full swing until spring. In the meantime, students can start at the locations listed on the website, bluewatergreenearth.org.

Eventually, Conkey, who is also a music promoter, wants to enlist the support of local musicians to help promote the effort through special events.

“The music scene is getting behind it, especially people with ocean-style music,” he said. “Once the kids see their peers do it, and people who care about the ocean — maybe their surf idols or legends — it’s amazing how easy it is to get people motivated.”

For Conkey, the key is to make the program a success for the students, shops and the environment.

“Now is the time to do this,” he said. “It’s a win-win for the students and the shops, which can maybe sell a little more sunscreen, surf lessons and body boards. Most importantly, it instills more respect for the water and the environment.

“With the kids, it’s infectious with family and friends. They talk among themselves and help spread the word through social media. It’s one more way we can make a difference. It’s so simple. It would be a shame not to do this.”

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.