Tuesday is Earth Day, and there are a number of opportunities on the South Fork to celebrate and honor the planet as it contends with myriad environmental stresses.
The Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, the Surfrider Foundation’s Eastern Long Island chapter, and the Georgica Association are joining to host a beach cleanup in Wainscott on Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Participants have been asked to park at the end of Beach Lane and walk east to Georgica Pond. Prizes will be awarded to children, and snacks and drinks will be provided. R.S.V.P.s can be made by emailing [email protected]. Wearing warm clothes and taking along a bucket to collect plastic are suggested.
On Tuesday, Surfrider will team with the South Fork Natural History Museum, the office of Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker, and Relic Sustainability to raise awareness of litter and plastic pollution by way of an Earth Day cleanup at Long Beach in Noyac from 3 to 5 p.m. Upon arrival, participants will check in, gather supplies, and learn how to record data for the items picked up. Collection efforts will allow Surfrider to use that information to influence laws and reduce waste at the source. Reservations are required at bit.ly/3Rbo7Mc.
Concerned Citizens of Montauk’s Great Montauk Cleanup on April 26 will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gloves, hand sanitizer, and reusable sacks can be picked up at the C.C.O.M. office at 6 South Elmwood Avenue. Locations to clean will be suggested, but volunteers have been invited to choose a beach, park, or roadside to which they have a personal connection. A dumpster donated by Mickey’s Carting will be in front of the C.C.O.M. office for what is collected. Registration is not required. As an incentive, the Montauk Brewing Company will offer a free brew to participants 21 and older.
Group for the East End will host a trail cleanup at Pipes Cove Preserve in Greenport on Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. Volunteers, who will remove debris and lay wood chips to make better trails, have been asked to take water and gloves and to dress appropriately, as work will be in areas with possible exposure to poison ivy and ticks. Sign-up is by emailing Taralynn Reynolds at [email protected].
Also on the North Fork, the group will have a cleanup at the Custer Preserve Garden in Southold on Tuesday from 10 to 11 a.m., with water and gloves recommended and sign-up with Ms. Reynolds.
With an eye on wildlife instead of trash, another Group for the East End activity is a spring migration bird walk on April 26 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Downs Farm Preserve in Cutchogue. The songbird migration has begun, and this short walk offers a chance to see early-spring visitors such as pine warblers, house wrens, tree swallows, and chipping sparrows. Binoculars are recommended. Registration is with Steve Biasetti at [email protected].
