Is trash a problem on Seasides beaches?

This is a question that community leaders in Seaside will tackle in the coming weeks.

After a lengthy discussion at a Seaside Downtown Development Association meeting earlier this month, Gini Dideum, one of the founding members of the Beach Drive Buccaneers, which cleans up the beach following the Fourth of July; Laurie Oxley, executive director of the SDDA; and Jon Rahl, director of tourism marketing at the Seaside Visitors Bureau, agreed to meet to discuss the issue later this month.

Well talk about education, some signage, maybe some more creative trash containers, Dideum said. Were going to explore and see what we can do to make (clean beaches) a part of Seaside culture.

Throughout the year, Dideum and her organization work to provide people access to trash disposal with the distribution of SOLVE bags at area businesses, hotels and restaurants. The Buccaneers recently received an award from SOLVE for helping keep Seasides beaches clean.

Doug Barker, event coordinator with the Seaside Chamber of Commerce, originally brought the topic up at a recent SDDA meeting. He said, after earlier events, he had been approached by people on the beach about the trash. The visitors bureau also has received complaints.

Susan Huntington, the chambers executive director, said she has seen that litter is a problem following major events in town. Dideum said she thinks educating people is important to improving the situation.

What I see is that people are just being careless, she said. We have anti-littering laws, we have ordinances or laws like no glass on the beach. People just ignore that. I think that when people see theres trash around and they drop something If everyone else is doing it, why not?