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Litter attracts Floridians to shores
Thousands join the Ocean Conservancy's worldwide cleanup at beaches, lakes and rivers.
Associated Press
Published September 17, 2007
DELRAY BEACH - Thousands took to the beaches and waterways this weekend across Florida as part of the Ocean Conservancy's annual worldwide coastal cleanup.
"We're going to be living in a cleaner environment," Danielle Galavan, 18, said Saturday as she picked up debris in West Palm Beach. "You don't want to walk along ... and see all this trash."
About 1,000 volunteers turned out for the project at John D. MacArthur State Park in Palm Beach County, said Lourdes Ferris, executive director of Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful, one of the event's sponsors.
"We've had some record numbers of volunteers," Ferris said.
Thousands more collected debris across the state from river banks, beaches and lakefronts.
"It's definitely the right thing to do," said Tricia Clarke, who helped collect trash in Delray Beach. "We live in such a beautiful place, and I think we should be taking care of it."
Last year, more than 350,000 volunteers worldwide removed about 7-million pounds of debris from 34,500 miles of coastlines and waterways, and ocean, river and lake bottoms, according to the conservancy.
Of the 7.7-million pieces of debris collected in 68 countries last year, cigarettes and cigarette butts accounted for roughly 1.9-million. It was the sixth consecutive year cigarettes topped the list.
Since 1986, more than 6.5-million volunteers in the project have removed 116-million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways in 127 countries, according to the Washington-based environmental advocacy group. The group will release results from Saturday's cleanup next year.
"It's an education process to teach people, 'Don't litter in the first place,'" said Larry Weber, director of Keep Brevard Beautiful, which had about 1,700 volunteers on Saturday who picked up some 30,000 pounds of trash.
ON THE WEB
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For more information on the Ocean Conservancy and the coastal cleanup, visit www.oceanconservancy.org.
[Last modified September 16, 2007, 21:48:36]
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