PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Beer bottles, aluminum cans, and plastic bags of trash. The scene along Gandy Beach in Pinellas County sparked complaints after this past Memorial Day weekend.
Even Thursday, trash could still be found piled up after contractors with the Florida Department of Transportation spent much of the week trying to clean the mess up.
FDOT says it's unfortunate people continue to trash the area and say they have crews out 2-3 times a week picking up garbage. They report seeing a large spike in littering and other illegal activities-- so bad, they’ve reached out to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office to request more enforcement.
Trash isn’t just a problem along Gandy. Even some of our area’s most pristine beaches are often left littered with garbage.
“I think the time has come where warnings are doing no good,” said Madeira Beach Mayor John Hendricks last June. At the time, the city voted to up the fine for littering to $250 for a first offense.
“If people in this day and age don’t know that you don’t litter there’s something wrong,” said Mayor Hendricks.
The city also increased the number of trash cans and this spring debuted a mini garbage truck that can operate on the sand to keep the bins from overflowing on busy weekends.
“We do see a lot of trash,” said Audrey Cevaer who founded Trash Pirates of Mad Beach with her neighbor Kandi Maiden. They started the volunteer group after watching cigarette butts, and other garbage, float into the intercoastal right as a baby manatee was born.
“People are so used to this behavior-- they flip their cigarette butt and they don’t realize that it’s going through our stormwater drains and into the Gulf or into the intercoastal,” said Cevaer. “They take 100 years to decompose.”
The group believes the solution involves educating the public. And when that doesn’t work, their team of volunteers does their best to clean up the rest.
“We’re doing it for the wildlife, we’re doing it for our environment, we’re doing it for a backyard.”
Trash Pirates of Mad Beach hold their trash clean-ups on the first Saturday of every month with their next event, this weekend, June 5th from 8:00-10:00 a.m. on both the north and south end of the beach.
Cevaer says if you see someone littering, the simplest solution is to be a good citizen and pick it up yourself.
If you find a larger mess, Pinellas County suggests you report the problem through the See Click Fix app, which automatically routes your complaint to the correct jurisdiction and department based on the problem’s location.
If you see someone dumping trash and creating a large mess in a Pinellas County Park like Fort DeSoto or Sand Key you can report the issue here.
What other people are reading right now:
- Lighting, Hurricanes Game 3 preview: Bolts return home
- $6 million in unclaimed property assets returned to people around Tampa Bay: Are you missing money?
- Philippe Park reopens Thursday following black bear sighting
- Man accused of shooting somebody in the face over dog dispute has 'anger issues,' sheriff says
- Find a Lightning watch party for Game 3 against Carolina
- Florida family loses four loved ones to COVID-19 in a matter of three months
- Tampa man attacked by gator in Myakka River
- What can I get tax-free during Florida's Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday?
►Breaking news and weather alerts: Get the free 10 Tampa Bay app
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter
