At Third Beach in Middletown, Kevin Ferris, of Portsmouth, prepares brown paper bags for beach-goers to remove their trash.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

MIDDLETOWN — A pilot “carry in/carry out” trash policy worked so well at Third Beach this summer that the town is considering expanding it to Second Beach next beach season.

The town removed trash barrels from Third Beach before the start of the summer and instead distributed paper trash bags to each beach visitor. The beachgoers were responsible for taking their trash home with them when they left the beach.

The town moved to the carry in/carry out program partly to minimize the amount of garbage at the beach, Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said. Beach staff sometimes had a hard time keeping up with the overflowing trash barrels.

But the town’s primary motivation was environmental concerns, Brown said. State beaches already follow carry in/carry out policies, with plastic bags. Middletown went one step further, choosing paper bags.

Some residents had worried that the new policy would mean that more trash would be left on the beach. Not so, Brown said.

“Third Beach is cleaner than it has been in prior years,” Brown said.

The Beach Commission will discuss expanding the carry in/carry out program to Second Beach at its meeting on Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at that beach.

— Meaghan Wims