HMTX Industries sponsored a beach cleanup May 21, 2022, with Save the Sound at Jennings Beach in Fairfield, Connecticut. The mission of Save the Sound is to protect and improve the land, air, and water of Connecticut and Long Island Sound. This is the sixth year that HMTX has sponsored a Save the Sound event along the shores of the state, and it was the HMTX volunteer group’s ninth cleanup outing.

Open to the public, the band of 49 coastal cleanup volunteers (12 representing HMTX) collected 20 bags totaling 161 pounds of trash that ranged from 953 tiny plastic pieces, 290 food wrappers, 116 plastic bottle caps and 92 plastic and metal beverage bottles to lesser quantities of PPE and paper/plastic cups and plates. Once again, the “Clean Swell” (Ocean Conservancy) app was used during the cleanup to record what was collected, making it easier for Save the Sound to tally all the trash.

“As always, a huge thank you to all the HMTX volunteers and others who gave their time and to Annalisa Paltauf, our Save the Sound coordinator," said Rick Taylor,  director of training and coordinator of volunteer events for HMTX. "I was impressed with the diversity of volunteers at the cleanup event: from elementary school children to senior citizens and all ages in between, with a 50-50 split among women and men. The most important takeaway for me was to hear so many volunteers express how much fun they had, how much trash they collected, and when was the next beach cleanup scheduled? We love to hear that enthusiasm!”