To the editor:

Fellow Islanders, this year, when we celebrate the Fourth of July and we head down to the beach with friends and neighbors to set off fireworks, let’s all commit to collecting the fireworks debris from the beach and disposing it in our home garbage bins.

Last fall, when I participated in a worldwide beach clean-up, I was amazed to find a lot of plastic fireworks paraphernalia. I understand the scenario — setting up the fireworks, having a great time, setting them off, and then when we’re all good and tired, heading home. Then the tide heads in and sweeps the debris out into the Sound. The wildlife cannot distinguish it from food, and it ends up in the stomachs of our fish and birds. That’s not what we intended.

So this year, when we head to the beach the evening of the Fourth, please bring a flashlight (there’s one on your phone) and a bag and make sure to haul out the debris. And when we take walks during the summer, consider picking up any stray plastic that you may find. It will be a good act on your part!

MARY CLARE KERSTEN

Bainbridge Island