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Coast Cleanup to Take Place Today

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

This sign at the Safety Harbor Marina asks people to help protect the environment. Not everyone heeds the request, which is why today, Saturday is Coastal Cleanup time.

By Mark Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: October 20, 2007

SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. - It's like a treasure hunt.

Well, sort of.

Safety Harbor's 2007 Coastal Cleanup is this morning, Oct. 20, from 8 a.m. until noon.

Similar coastal cleanups will get be held today in the Oldsmar, Dunedin and Tarpon Springs areas.

The clean up here, which will encompass an area from Phillippe Park along Bayshore Boulevard to Alligator Lake, has become a family tradition for many, said Sherri Kennedy, city recycling coordinator.

From 100 to 125 volunteers usually participate in the event, which coincides with the Coastal Cleanup campaign of the Clearwater-based nonprofit environmental group Keep Pinellas Beautiful, she said.

While discussing the task volunteers will face today, Kennedy said many think cigarette butts disappear when tossed out of a car window. Instead, the cleanup participants will spend a lot of time removing them from road rights of way and the local shoreline.

Cans, bottles, cups and plastics, especially dangerous to seabirds, are also cleaned away by volunteers, Kennedy said.

Some of the improperly disposed waste littering the local coastline isn't so small.

For example, someone once came across a steel drum – the percussion instrument associated with Caribbean music – and there are always many discarded tires to be removed, according to Kennedy.

Those interested in joining the fun should arrive at the Safety Harbor Marina at 8 a.m.

Also at 8 a.m., volunteers will gather at Sunset Beach park in Tarpon Springs for a coastal cleanup.

At the same time, volunteers will attack shoreline refuse in the Honeymoon and Caladesi island state parks under the aegis of Keep Pinellas Beautiful, while volunteers organized by the City of Dunedin will remove waste from along Dunedin Causeway, which leads to Honeymoon Island.

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