Farmingville, NY - On August 2 and August 3, Councilwoman Jane Bonner participated in the “Beach Bucket Brigade” clean-up at Cedar Beach in Mt. Sinai. The “Beach Bucket Brigade” was created by 14-year-old sisters Cayla and Iris Rosenhagen as a program designed to promote community participation in beach clean-ups and to further educate about wildlife protection and environmentally friendly practices. Cayla and Iris are 14-year-old sisters who are nature lovers, avid birders, and conservationists. In the past, they have organized beach clean-ups and now wish to expand their initiatives to reach more community members. At the “Beach Bucket Brigade” clean up, participants were given reusable beach buckets to fill with litter found throughout their day at the beach. Participants were also rewarded with prizes and environmentally friendly giveaways. Gershow Recycling kindly sponsored the event with a $500 donation and provided participants with re-usable shopping bags. A Spoonful of Sugar Entertainment donated their time by inviting some mermaids to meet and encourage the volunteers.
Councilwoman Bonner said, “I am so proud of Cayla and Iris for taking the initiative to put this beach clean-up together. Their hard work and dedication to our community is greatly appreciated and enjoyed by all residents. I am glad to have been a part of this incredibly successful beach clean-up and look forward to working with the ‘Beach Bucket Brigade’ in the future.”
Cayla Rosenhagen said, “We’re happy to announce that during the ‘Beach Bucket Brigade’ clean-up events this weekend, almost 8,000 pieces of litter were picked up by about 120 volunteers. It was staggering to see the amount of trash on Cedar Beach, especially plastic and cigarettes. Even though we have a long way to go, seeing so many community members come together to help our beach was inspiring. Many thanks to all who participated as well as to Brookhaven Town, Councilwoman Bonner and her staff, and Gershow Recycling for all of their help and support.”
Iris Rosenhagen said, “It was great news, that compared to our past clean-ups at Cedar Beach, we found considerably less balloons and plastic bags. Hopefully this is an indication that new laws passed to protect the environment, such as the 5-cent law for plastic shopping bags and banning intentional balloon releases, people are becoming more environmentally aware of the dangers that litter poses to wildlife and are making more eco-friendly choices. Our volunteers were very excited to earn raffle tickets for picking up litter in order to win products, such as reusable straws, water bottles, and cotton produce bags as alternatives, opposed to their single-use counterparts which pollute our planet.”
Photo 1 left to right: Councilwoman Bonner, Mermaid Misty Cayla Rosenhagen, Iris Rosenhagen and Mermaid Meara.
Photo 2 left to right: John Zaher representing Gershow Recycling, Iris Rosenhagen, Cayla Rosenhagen and Councilwoman Bonner.
Division of Public Information * Office of the Supervisor
One Independence Hill • Farmingville • NY 11738 • Phone 631-451-6595