Carry in Carry Out Gets Major Test

Phillips Beach had a few locations strewn with plastic bottles and wrappers late in the busy July 4 weekend but otherwise looked relatively tidy. 

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, there were several bottles and wrappers by a bench in front of the beach entrance and in the wild rose bushes off the boardwalk leading to the beach as well as to the side of the main entrance. 

The popular seaside destination has a front-and-center sign announcing the new carry in/carry out trash rule. And it has no trash barrels.

Under the rule, beach-goers haul away their trash when they leave.

Selectmen instituted the test measure, just at Phillips Beach, as a way to keep the beaches clean and to save money.

If carry in/carry out succeeds at Phillips Beach board members may consider extending it to other Swampscott beaches next year, board members said.

Town Administrator Tom Younger said the selectmen want to see if carry in/carry out can be a more successful way to maintain the beach by having the users get waste and trash off the beach sooner.

Some people have complained in the past about overflowing trash barrels, some of which get raided by seagulls and other scavengers, leading to litter.

At the last board meeting, Selectman Barry Greenfield talked about the pilot program at Phillips saving the town thousands of dollars over the course of the summer.