Coastal Clean-up

This year we participated in the International Coastal Clean-up event put on by the Ocean Conservancy every third Saturday in September.

"Today, ... more than six million volunteers in 127 countries and all 55 U.S. states and territories.... On the third Saturday in September each year, the International Coastal Cleanup provides a direct and tangible way for individuals to make a difference for one of the largest problems we face, trash in the ocean". - Ocean Conservancy website. Just to give you some perspective on this event, take a look at these statistics found in the 2007 Coastal Clean-up report:

"In 2007, more than 378,000
volunteers participated in the
International Coastal Cleanup (ICC)
worldwide. These volunteers donated
their time to remove more than
six million pounds of debris from
over 33,000 miles of shoreline –
approximately 182 pounds of trash
collected per mile!"

What a great event to be a part of, especially living in Florida and being a frequent user of our beautiful beaches. We joined a group of hundreds at Ft. Desoto Beach and spread out for over two hours of garbage clean-up. We even brought the kids along and they took great pride in picking up "other peoples litter".

There were many great organizations that were integral parts of getting the volunteers together for this event including: Tampa Bay Watch, Keep Pinellas Beautiful and Clean Water Action. Large groups from different companies that I also noticed were Stetson, 97x and Coca Cola.

If you missed this event and would like to help out at one like it in the future, please go to the Keep Pinellas Beautiful website for the local Clean-up that happens in October.