Every year, thousands of marine animals, including sea turtles, marine mammals and sea birds, are sickened, injured or killed because of human-generated trash that ends up in the ocean.

This weekend, youngsters from Northlands Primary School are going to do something about this. Members of the school's Pride Pals, supervised by school counsellor, Barbara Hollis, will be joining forces with other Keep Bermuda Beautiful volunteers to clean up our ocean backyard. The Northlands students will be cleaning up Penhurst Park Dock on North Shore from 10 a.m. to noon.

Ten year-old Jahkyah Belboda explained that she was happy to spend two hours of her Saturday picking up other people's trash because: "It's going to help the environment. Other people will see it's beautiful, so they won't throw trash and will see Bermuda is a beautiful, clean island."

When asked why she thought people threw trash, she speculated: "They don't see a trash can and think they can throw trash wherever they want. That's how Bermuda gets dirty and messed up."

Fellow P6-er, Brenton Davis, added that the litterers are: "People who are rude. They don't put trash in a can because the can is so far away. They don't respect Bermuda." He's giving up Saturday play "so that when tourists come, they're happy when they see our country clean."

Katrina Moran, also in P6 at Northlands, is concerned about the creatures in the ocean. She explained, "The animals in the ocean might eat the trash and get sick. I want to help the environment and the animals in the water."

September 19 is an International Coastal Clean Up initiative, and for several years Bermuda has played a part in this annual event. Although Bermuda is tiny, there is a considerable amount of trash and debris in our coastal waters, admittedly, not all of our own making.

Anne Hyde, KBB consultant, pointed out: "KBB needs swimmers, snorkellers, divers and boaters to haul marine debris out of the water. If you don't want to get your feet wet, KBB also needs volunteers to clean up litter along the beaches. KBB works hard to protect Bermuda's environment, but they can't do it without volunteers from the community."

According an article on the Ocean Conservancy website (www.oceanconservancy.org) entitled "Marine Debris: Pervasive … And Solvable", during the 2008 cleanup: "Of the 43 specific items tallied from light bulbs to fishing line, the top three items recorded were cigarette butts (3.2 million), plastic bags (1.4 million) and food wrappers/containers (943 thousand). Animals can choke or become poisoned when they eat trash, or drown when they become entangled in bags, ropes, and old fishing gear."

If you want your family to help, get your parents to contact KBB through their website at www.KBB.bm or by email kbb@northrock.bm or by phone 295-5142 and offer to clean up your favourite swimming spot.