Fault the Fine Print

In an attempt to keep the sands cleaner East Hampton Town mandated this year that all beach fires be made within metal containers. In several locations early this summer, the rule appears to have improved conditions a great deal. But compliance is not complete, and in some places, Atlantic Drive on Napeague for one and parts of downtown Montauk’s shoreline and Ditch Plain for others, problems with messy charred wood and blackened sand remain. 

Fault the fine print: Though the relevant town regulations are posted at nearly every beach, bay and ocean alike, the information is in an impenetrable block of small, black text that no one — not even the most policy-wonk geekiest among us — is going to read.

The town should take note that people rushing to the beach to build a fire are likely to be doing so at night and to pass by so quickly that, at most, only a split-second’s attention would be paid to the text of a sign. The astonishing welter of signs at the road ends exacerbates the attention gap and makes attention all the more brief.

Idiot-proofing is the solution. Instead of the existing verbiage, which looks like one of the more boring chapters in “Moby-Dick,” the town should display an unmistakable visual message. We can envision a graphic depiction of a fire on the sand with a big “X” through it on one side and a fire properly blazing away in a metal container with a bucket of water nearby on the other, with a big, fat thumbs-up symbol. Emoji are now the common language, and the point will get across. 

If clean sand is the goal, making the rules easier to understand for all beachgoers is a priority.