World Oceans Day celebrates our mysterious and amazing blue oceans every year on June 8. This year, Beach.com partnered with Sarasota County to host a beach cleanup on our home beach, Siesta Key Beach. It was a fun day full of sunshine, smiles and, most importantly, conservation! In addition to providing all cleanup supplies at the event, there was also a county representative from Florida Sea Grant doing presentations on plastic pollution and ocean conservation.
Here’s an overview of our World Oceans Day Beach Cleanup!
Trash Collected on World Oceans Day
More than 300 pounds of trash were collected by local beach cleanup volunteers. The more prevalent items making up the trash were:
- Cigarette butts
- Plastic water bottles
- Glass bottles
- Aluminum cans
- Plastic bags
- Single-use plastic straws
- Plastic beach toys like noodles, sandcastle shovels, etc.
- Paper and plastic cups and lids
- Styrofoam containers
- Food wrappers
Businesses & News Stations Present
We had many local businesses represented at the event in the form of volunteers and donated raffle prizes including The Compound Board Shop, Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream, Simon’s Coffee House, Stream2Sea, The Dive Source and Tidal Freediving.
Our event drew a lot of attention in the local community and local news stations including Herald Tribune, SNN News, Your Observer and ABC 7.
Volunteers at the Beach Cleanup
We had more than 250 volunteers, including 20 teens from The Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota. Armed with burlap bags and protective gloves, they walked three miles along Siesta Key Beach, the road and parking lots picking up trash.
Activities at the Beach Cleanup
In addition to an educational aspect, we wanted the beach cleanup to be a fun activity for Sarasotians of all ages.
Sunrise Yoga
We hosted a 45-minute sunrise yoga class facing the ocean to kick off the beach cleanup. Fifty people came out bright and early for it!
Face painting
Jasmine Laura, a local makeup artist, came out and painted faces for the duration of the event.
Raffle
Every beach cleanup volunteer received one raffle ticket with the chance to win freediving classes, ice cream coupons, gift certificates to local businesses Simon’s Coffee House and The Compound Boardshop and samples of Stream2Sea reef-safe sunscreen.
