19-04-2025
Volunteers celebrate Earth Day with beach cleanup in Miramar Beach
WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Okaloosa and Walton counties partnered with the restaurant association to do multiple beach cleanups throughout the area. One of them was at the Surf Hut in Miramar Beach.
With gloves on and trash bags in hand, volunteers began walking up and down the beach. The goal is to protect the environment, one piece of trash at a time.
'A lot of the trash that is in the ocean. It all comes from the land. So this is the place to start and get it before it gets into the water, because once it gets into the water, there's not much we can do about it. And we know it has detrimental effects on the wildlife, the birds, the fish, the dolphins, the turtles,' Florida Sea Grant Marine Agent Laura Tiu said.
Volunteers could enter the beach clean-up contests, with prizes for the most unique items collected.
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'These are some of our more unique items. We've got what looks like a brand new pair of Coach flip flops here,' Okaloosa County Land Resources Manager Rob Fenwick said.
'We have a competition for the most unique item. And in addition to the coach flip flops that were found, we have this doll as well. And also these really nifty bright pink beads,' University of Florida Extension Services Dana Stephens said.
It was also competition for the most cigarette butts collected. Event coordinators say they are the most common item found.
'We collect a lot of data from this, and we find that the most the the most numerous object that we see our cigarette butts so we're hoping some of the new regulations with not smoking on the beach will cut down on some of that,' Tiu said.
The clean-up is just one week after the spring break season came to an end, but organizers say they are seeing less trash than usual.
'It's positive that we haven't seen as much trash. Seems counterintuitive, but we're hoping for less weight. So that indicates that people are becoming maybe more aware of the use of the beach and how to take care of it,' Stephens said.
Volunteers dumped their findings in a trash can, nearly filling it to the brim. After the trash is collected, it goes to the landfill.
'We'll never get to the point where we don't need beach cleanups anymore. But it's nice to see, you know, the amount of trash coming off the beach going down every year,' Fenwick said.
After the beach cleanup, the surf hut provides volunteers with a free pancake breakfast for all their hard work.
If you missed this beach cleanup, you still have another opportunity to help the environment. Okaloosa County will host the International Coastal Cleanup in the fall.
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