The Buzz
ON THE BAY
By Megan Monte
A Drop in the Ocean Middletown-based nonprofit continues mission to make shorelines clean and accessible for all Sachuest Beach, Middletown
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The Bay • January 2022
Shoreline cleanup events in action: marine debris and litter collected at Taylors Lane, Little Compton
Photos by Madeline Bassinder, Clean Ocean Access
It was a cold winter day in 2006 when Dave McLaughlin and his friend finished surfing at the Newport break, Ruggles. When they emerged from the water, they were met with the frustrating news that they could no longer park there. Such restrictions were not rare, as public ocean access parking had been, and continued to be, at risk. The following summer, beach closures and water quality issues struck the area, and McLaughlin and several friends knew they had to address these issues. “We chose to form our own group,” McLaughlin says. Based on Aquidneck Island, they founded grassroots organization Clean Ocean Access (COA). What started from a group of surfers and concerned individuals became a highly organized nonprofit in 2014 that continued to build. McLaughlin, the executive director of COA, describes how the organization has grown into a diverse community. “Today, I would say we’re an organization of people who care about the environment and have a connection to the ocean – but that connection to the ocean could range from anything like someone who has a childhood memory to someone who fishes or surfs.” The nonprofit’s name is a testament to their vision: a clean, healthy ocean that is accessible to all. Their mission, which paves the way to this vision, is to inspire and educate the community to take action through environmentally responsible behaviors,
