As they do every year, the Girl Scouts of Troop 64968 gathered at the Onset Bay Center on Wednesday, April 24 for a clean-up of Onset Beach. 

The evening had an educational component as well, as the girls of the troop learned about Earth Day and protecting the environment and made eco-friendly window cleaner. 

Troop leader Sara Phillips led the scouts through a series of questions about how to help the environment. 

When asked what Earth Day was about, Isabella Escobar-Groos, 9, said, “It’s where you pick up trash and use less electricity.”

The scouts had a variety of suggestions about how to help the environment. Laila McCarthy, 7, suggested shutting off the faucet when not using it. Ainelee Manduca was in favor of growing and watering plants. 

The activities helped the scouts earn their household elf badge, said Phillips. The badge rewards picking up new household habits to help save energy, water and the planet. 

After learning about how to help the environment, the troop hit the beach to put theory into practice and clean up the natural environment. 

Several scouts had good memories of previous years’ cleanups and eagerly looked forward to the evening’s work. 

Daleya Days, 7, said she liked helping the jellyfish in the ocean. “It’s really bad if they get washed up on the beach, because they can’t breathe,” said Days. 

Ainslee said the clean-up got to show how much they loved the earth, and it got to give them a good place to play. 

“We got to go to whichever area we wanted and find trash and pick it up, and then we look for more,” she said.