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Rotary Club outlines summer microplastic removal campaign and incentives at Newport council meeting
Summary
The Rotary Club of Newport briefed council on a summer program of daily microplastic cleanups at Agate Beach, a newly funded water refilling/station signage plan tied to outreach, and pilot incentive programs for volunteers and local groups.
Representatives of the Rotary Club of Newport described a summer program to remove microplastics from Agate Beach and to recruit tourists and local groups into volunteer cleanup efforts.
Guy Faust, speaking for the Rotary Club, said the club plans daily microplastic collection from July 1 through Sept. 7, between 10 a.m. and noon, and will staff the work with hired beach‑cleanup supervisors. "So, every day this summer from July 1 through September 7 from 10 until 12 noon, we're going to be clean in microplastic off of Agate Beach," Faust said during his report.
The club also reported it secured a grant of about $10,000 for two water refill stations—one at the Mesquite foot‑wash area at the beach and one on the Bayfront—paired with signage and QR codes to drive volunteers to the Rotary signup page. Faust said the club will ask district Rotary clubs and local businesses to sponsor cleanup days: a suggested sponsorship is $200 for a sponsored day and $100 payments to local groups that recruit 10–30 volunteers for a two‑hour cleanup.
Faust outlined incentive ideas, including a December drawing in which ticket entries would be earned by bringing volunteers or by collecting microplastic pounds; the winning ticket would receive $1,000. He described the program as partly awareness raising and partly a model to scale along the Oregon coast: "We're really trying to do is is create a model because there's 10 other rotary clubs up and down the Oregon Coast," Faust said.
Councilors asked logistical questions about volunteer registration and equipment. Faust said volunteers can sign up on the Rotary Club of Newport website and that the club provides supervision and photographic recordkeeping of collected material. The council thanked the Rotary Club for its initiative and said staff would help publicize the program where feasible.
No formal council action was associated with the presentation.
