Psychology organizations plan beach cleanup

Kseny Boklan

The Psychology Club and the Psi Beta National Honor Society are planning a beach cleanup of Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point on April 18, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. The two clubs will be teaming up with the Surfrider Foundation to help fight ocean pollution and create more awareness of environmental issues.

The Surfrider Foundation, a local nonprofit environmental organization, is a seasoned veteran at cleaning up beaches. They will be providing bags, gloves and other necessary items in order to make the experience more pleasant. To join the cleanup, any interested students are welcome to meet outside of the BGS parking lot at 8:15 a.m., with departure scheduled for 8:30 a.m.

The Psychology Club and Psi Beta are very active organizations. The day before the beach cleanup in Dana Point, the members are planning to attend the Psychology Research Fair at California State University, San Marcos.

Joining the clubs is an easy way to be more involved in the community, plus “it looks good for college,” said Nathan Nguyen, 19, biology.

An important role of these psychology-oriented clubs is to help their members develop strong leadership skills, said president of both clubs, Naomi Braun, 30, psychology.

“We get involved in everything – all the volunteer stuff,” Melissa Wining, 20, psychology, said. “I like to help out people and feel more fortunate.”

Last semester, the club raised $380 for the Community Services Program (CSP) Shelter, which serves severely emotionally-distressed individuals. This semester, the club members are planning to tour the CSP facility.

“Sometimes having experiences with people who face difficult or drastically different realities of life than yourself [sic] helps open minds and build character,” said Hadrien Curs, 20, business administration.

It is no coincidence that the beach cleanup is just four days before Earth Day, for which both clubs will prepare a list of recycling centers in Orange County, and a petition for the students to sign in order to get recycling bins on campus, said Braun.

“We will have a booth with an educational display depicting the hazards to us, the environment and how long items such as batteries, Styrofoam, plastic, [and] aluminum take to biodegrade,” Braun said. “We will also give alternative ways to use batteries.”

Many other Saddleback clubs will be celebrating Earth Day by joining in the festivities taking place in the Student Services quad from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 22.

For more information about the beach cleanup at Dana Point, or other events on the Psi Beta and Psychology Club’s agenda, contact [email protected] or [email protected]. For those interested in planning their own beach cleanup with help from Surfrider Foundation, check out its website at: http://www.surfrider.org/southorangecounty/projects.html.

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