Mystic is known for its beauty along the southeastern waterfront and staff members at Mystic Aquarium want to keep it that way.
That’s why they organized the Mystic-Wide Cleanup on Monday. The goal was to collect more than 500 pounds of trash and staff said they likely surpassed that figure.
About 100 volunteers dressed in vests and gloves cleaned Mystic with the hope of keeping the Long Island Sound clean and the ecosystem healthy so seals, sea turtles and other animals don’t get tangled in debris or swallow it.
Mystic Aquarium’s director of education and conservation, MaryEllen Mateleska, organized Monday’s cleanup along Coogan Boulevard and Jerry Brown Road, Route 27, Downtown Mystic and River Road and the Mystic River.
"What goes on the ground ends up in the Sound, so if we're not going to be the ones to clean it up and set a good example, who will?" Mateleska said.
Just in the Mystic Seaport parking lot, Mateleska found shoelaces, rope and plastic, among other debris.
Community groups like the Boys & Girls Club, Clean Up Sounds and Harbors (CUSH), Mystic Aquarium staff and Big Y employees volunteered their time.
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"Rags, pieces of cars, lots of doggie poop bags," Kim Gladue, a Big Y employee, said while describing what she found at last year’s cleanup event. This year, she was picking up large pieces of plastic and beer bottles around downtown Mystic.
Addy Reid, who is on vacation from Orgeon to visit her grandma in Connecticut, put on a vest and gloves to help.
"I don’t like walking down the street stepping on trash," she said, adding the reason she’s volunteering is so trash, "doesn’t wash into the ocean and kill the sea creatures."
Three generations of her family came to help out. Her grandma, Sally Cogan, of Stonington, is a member of CUSH.
"We were out actually going on a shark/snorkel trip and there was plastic debris way out beyond Block Island," Cogan said.
The town of Stonington waived all charges for disposing of the trash, according to Mystic Aquarium staff.
Everyone who volunteered was invited to an after-party at the aquarium Monday night to celebrate their efforts.
