Charlie

Cyrus Buffum: Our Water's Keeper

Where were you the Sunday after the 4th of July? No need to answer, we can guess, and we doubt you’d say, “cleaning up trash.” Cyrus Buffum was doing that for you.

After heading to Morris Island and sorting through the remnants of the previous day’s festivities, which literally blanketed the beach, he left with over 1,000 lbs of trash. And why was this Buffum’s job? Because he is, in essence, our ocean’s protector. As the founder and face of The Charleston Waterkeeper, a member program of the larger Waterkeeper Alliance, it is Buffum’s official mission to “defend our waterways against pollution.” And considering that one Saturday can leave the shoreline looking like a war zone, that protection is vital to the Charleston harbor.

Graduating from the College of Charleston in 2006, Buffum became the youngest “waterkeeper” when he launched the non-profit in Charleston last September. He was attempting to translate his Physics degree into social activism while maintaining his relationship with the water, having grown up in Cape Cod sailing competitively, when he stumbled upon John Cohen and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s book, “The Riverkeepers” and it all clicked.

Kennedy, president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, made up of 193 programs spanning 6 continents, continues to inspire, taking the leap at a recent conference to suggest that the Waterkeeper Alliance “protects democracy” in its quest to defend the common property. Buffum jokes that this makes him a “freedom fighter,” but in a sense, he’s spot on. In a donated boat, he patrols his jurisdiction, the Charleston harbor watershed, in search of polluters and threats to our water. Where there is suspicious dumping, the Waterkeeper is there. Trashed beach? Here comes the Waterkeeper. Oil spill? You get the idea. The only thing missing is a giant W across his chest.

With the Clean Water Act’s clause that a citizen can file suit against violators, Buffum has the power to go up against large corporations privatizing the water by illegally dumping more than their fair share of waste. The job is larger than one individual can manage, however, and the group is hoping to turn Charleston into a community of watchdogs- reporting any suspicious activity that might endanger the harbor. If the recent washed up whale on Sullivan’s island, dead after ingesting a plastic bag, doesn’t pull at your heart strings, look to your own health for motivation: “Trash in the street, an oil puddle in the Wal-Mart parking lot…anything on an impervious surface like concrete is going to end up in the waterways, and eventually on our dinner plates,” Buffum explains. One cigarette butt in the gutter may seem harmless, but do you really want your shrimp and grits with a side of tobacco?

In addition to spreading awareness and educating others, The Charleston Waterkeeper strives to grow in members, hoping to one day have enough funding to afford a daily patrol. Membership fees range from $10 to $500 a year, and donations go a long way. The need to protect our waterways is so necessary that Buffum didn’t think twice when opening a non-profit during a recession, but that doesn’t make the endeavor any easier. Tangible donations, such as office space  (Buffum is currently manning the ship from a rented desk in another business’ office), will help the group transition from one man’s mission to a highly influential force.

From the surfers at Folly to the diners at Hank’s, we can all adopt Buffum’s initial creed: “I realized that this is my playground,” he explains, “and I’m obligated to protect it.”

www.charlestonwaterkeeper.org

Story by Carter Worrell
Photos by Chrys Rynearson