The Kiwanis Club of Merrick teamed up with Long Island environmental group Save the Great South Bay to tackle one of the region’s most pervasive problems: water pollution.
Many of Long Island’s waterways flow south into the Great South Bay, a massive aquatic ecosystem bordering most of Long Island’s south shore. The bay was once a driver for the local fishing industry, but decades of garbage and chemical contamination took from its vitality. Restoration groups like Save the Great South Bay work to undo the damage.
STGSB worked with the Kiwanis Club of Merrick to clean East Meadow Creek of litter, debris and invasive species on April 26 in celebration of Earth Day.
“As we go back year after year, some places have less garbage, some place have more garbage,” said Robyn Silvestri, the executive director of STGSB.
“It’s one thing to clean up legacy garbage. It’s another thing for the garbage to keep coming back… whatever gets washed up off the streets goes into the storm drains and eventually makes its way into the bay.”
Kim Scharoff is the secretary of the Merrick Kiwanis Club.
“Anybody can come and join us,” she said. “The more people that we have, the more cleanup we can do.”
The group has taken on the role of Creek Defender in partnership with STGSB.
“The Kiwanis Club of Merrick has become the Creek Defender for the Merrick area,” Scharoff said. “It includes a couple of locations that we can pick from to do community cleanups. We’re going to do them at least twice a year.”
The cleanup site was off the side of Meadowbrook Parkway and just south of Babylon Turnpike.
“The Creek Defender program is Save the Great South Bay’s flagship program,” Silvestri explained. “In each of the 16 towns across the South Shore, we have what’s appointed what’s called a Creek Defender.”
Creek Defenders are responsible for facilitating community engagement, helping town residents take action and protect their local ecosystems. In total, the program has led to 87,500 pounds of trash being removed from local waterways since 2017, according to Silvestri.
“Our slogan is start where you stand,” she said. “Start in your own backyard. Start in your own neighborhood… you’re much more likely to have an impact in your local neighborhood than you are on a global issue. We really hope to empower people to feel like they can make a difference.”
