environment

You'd barely know it Jacksonville, but today is Earth Day. I started my morning by riding my bicycle to yoga class. I locked it next to the dumpster, which was filled to overflowing with recyclable paper, cardboard, aluminum cans and rotting food. I know that we have a recycling program (although a lot of people seem to ignore it), but what about a composting program? In San Francisco. the city picks up all compostable items in a separate container every week and guess what? They are approaching 75% recycling of so-called trash.San Francisco (and other cities) have also restricted the use of plastic bags at supermarkets and big box stores.

As the chairwoman for First Coast Surfrider I am often contacted by other local groups to partner with or help kick start their own beach cleanup program. So, I decided to create a quick reference guide for how to run your own beach cleanup.

What’ll need before you begin:

• A LOCATION
  This will often be the reason for your cleanup. You noticed a polluted access, street, park or beach that needs your help!
• VOLUNTEERS
  You can hold a beach cleanup with just you and yourself, but having a few good men (women, children, dogs, aliens or anything else that can lend a hand) helps.
• DATE & TIME
  When do you plan on holding the cleanup? Consider local weather patterns and any outside factors that could negatively or positively impact your efforts. Will there be a lot of traffic (foot or car) at a certain hour? Will that traffic hinder or help the cleanup? If it’s a beach cleanup, the best time is when the tide is going out. This exposes new trash and gives you plenty of ground coverage.

Essential Cleanup Supplies:

• BAGS - Even buckets and boxes… go greener!
• GLOVES - Latex and non-latex in small, medium, large and x-large sizes.
• FIRST AID KITS - Include band aids, gauze, alcohol swabs, neosporin, pain reliever, etc.
• WATER - It’s important to stay hydrated!
• SIGN-IN SHEET - Keep count of your volunteers for safety and future reference; document their name, time in/out, email address. Also document the pounds of trash collected, a large bag half full is approximately 20lbs.
• VOLUNTEER HOUR FORMS - Volunteers need to document their community service hours; include volunteer name, date, location, time in/out, organization name and your signature.

Optional Cleanup Supplies:

• HAZARDOUS MATERIALS CONTAINER
• GRABBER - For those hard to reach places or dangerous items.
• DIRECTIONS TO NEAREST HOSPITALS - Extreme precaution, but you never know…
• INFO ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION - Crowded areas will attract attention, seize the opportunity to spread awareness about your group.
• CALENDAR OF EVENTS - Besides group info, give the volunteers and anyone with questions a copy of your upcoming events, so they can mark their calendars.

Additional Beach Cleanup Resources:

International Coastal Cleanup