Last Saturday, the South Florida community was "all hands on deck" for the International Coastal Cleanup, the world's largest volunteer effort to clean our coasts. Spearheaded globally by the Ocean Conservancy and organized locally by VolunteerCleanup.org, Watson Island was the site of the Blue Scholars cleanup effort where nearly 100 volunteers removed more than 1,000 pounds of trash from the Biscayne Bay shoreline. Sorting the trash and recording the data was the Big Blue & You crew who also conducted a Break Free From Plastic Brand Audit. The results:
Top Three Items Recorded
FOOD WRAPPERS - 297
PLASTIC BOTTLES - 257
PLASTIC BAGS - 239
Top Three Brands Recorded
COCA COLA - 147 items
NESTLE - 143 items
Pepsico - 128 items
Plastic pollution is a massive problem for our inland waterways, bays and ocean but small actions can make a big difference. This valuable data allows consumers to make more informed decisions while holding corporate polluters accountable. Recycling is NOT the answer...
REFUSE / REDUCE / REUSE / REPAIR / REDESIGN
Cleanup efforts at the 55 sites across Miami-Dade County helped to remove and catalog more trash than ever before (read the full report). We're incredibly grateful to all of the volunteers and to the Miami Yacht Club and Jungle Island for hosting Blue Scholars. Special thanks also to Coastal Waste & Recycling and the many sponsors and partners that made our Watson Island Cleanup both successful and memorable.