On Oct. 20, Clean Ocean Action (COA) held its 22nd Annual Fall Beach Sweeps.

Approximately 2,000 volunteers donated their time and effort on a Saturday to remove litter and other debris from 60 beaches throughout New Jersey.

At Sandy Hook in Monmouth County alone more than 300 volunteers, Harter Equipment employees among them, removed 2,870 plastic food/candy wrappers/bags, 404 plastic shopping bags, 592 plastic beverage bottles, 139 pieces of plastic fishing line, 44 syringes, 219 balloons, 38 shoes, and some unusual items including a car bumper, a kazoo, an Easter basket, a guitar and a license plate, according COA’s Web site.

Harter Equipment, based in Millstone Township, N.J., also donated equipment to help with transporting trash bags to a dumpster site.

For Harter, it was a chance for a business and its employees to give back to the community in which it works.

“As most of our employees live in the Monmouth and Ocean County areas and frequent our beaches regularly, it was a great opportunity for us to help give back to our environment. It was an absolutely beautiful day,” said Sue Harter, vice president of Harter Equipment.

COA is a broad-based coalition of more than 150 business, community, conservation, environmental, fishing, boating, diving, student, surfing, women’s and service groups. These “Ocean Wavemakers” work to clean up and protect the waters of the New York Bight. The groups came together in 1984 to investigate sources, effects and solutions of ocean pollution. Under the guidance of COA’s Board of Trustees, COA’s staff researches pollution issues affecting the marine environment, then formulates policy and campaigns to eliminate each pollution source.

For more information, visit www.cleanoceanaction.org. CEG