HomeMy Public PortalAboutCOTI_PR20160318_BeachSweep.docxPRESS RELEASE: Contact: Diane Schleicher, City Manager
For immediate release (912) 786-4573
Leaving Only Footprints on Tybee Island Beaches
Tybee Island, GA – (March 18, 2015) The first major visitor event of the year heralds the influx of visitors that keeps Tybee Island businesses open, but along with those visitors comes
the headaches of traffic, parking, crowds, and beach trash.
While the Police Department and Parking Services work hard to make sure traffic flows smoothly, emergency vehicles have access and egress, and parking spaces are paid for by visitors
to help defray the costs of this extra support, the crowded beach and trash left there are even harder to control. Whether at an informal “event” like the Orange Crush spring break
weekend, or at a sponsored and organized event like Independence Day fireworks, the number of people on the beach makes it almost impossible to see what groups of people are doing or
when they leave their things behind to hit the water or to leave and go home.
Once beachgoers have lost control of their litter, one of two things happens:
Unrecovered litter will likely be sampled by wildlife, whether sea gulls, otters, dolphins, sea turtles, or more exotic species like whales, when that litter is swept to sea.
While food itself is not likely to be harmful, many plastic and other, inedible items can end up entangling, poisoning, or otherwise harming and killing wildlife that tries to swim through
or ingest it.
At all major events - indeed, every morning of every day of the year - Tybee’s Department of Public Works sends out a crew to pick up trash from the sand, empty waste and recycle barrels
from designated spots on the beaches, and to pick up in parking areas as well. On these busy weekends, as much as 30 tons of trash may be picked up in this way.
Luckily, there are often groups of people willing to volunteer to help on these extremely busy weekends, bringing out hundreds of individuals and arming them with trash bags, nitrile
gloves, pick up pincers, and sand nets. Tybee Beautification Association has performed this service admirable for many years, but the job has of late been taken over by
more regularly scheduled beach sweeps from the local “Fight Dirty” squad, a cooperative effort among Tybee businesses, individuals, and the non-profit Tybee Clean Beach Volunteers.
Volunteers gather up the trash, from towels and tents to cigarette butts and matches, bagging it up to leave on the beach. The DPW team gathers the bags onto the stake truck and trailer
used for this purpose to remove the trash for the landfill.
Tybee and all our volunteers, residents, and visitors appreciate all efforts to keep our beaches clean and our marine life healthy. Please do not leave behind any trash or other items
after visiting the beach.
For the weekend following what all indications will be the Orange Crush celebration on April 16th, anyone wishing to help clean up the beach will meet the morning of Sunday, April 17th
at Tybee’s Parker Pier and Pavilion at 8AM. The clean-up effort is expect to be over by 10AM.
SIDEBARS:
Tybee City Ordinance, Section 12-1, states in part:
Placement of litter. It shall be unlawful to throw, place, deposit, sweep or scatter, or cause to be thrown, placed, deposited, swept, or scattered, any paper, food, cigarette butts,
bottles, cans, trash, fruit peelings or other refuse upon the beaches or structures erected thereon. Beach goers must have their trash in a container at all times.
And,
Penalty for litter. The fine for the offense of violating subsection (a)(2) of this section prohibiting litter on the beach, shall be not less than $100.00 plus applicable court fees
and not less than $200.00 […] plus applicable court fees for any subsequent offense occurring within a 12-month period of a preceding offense.
Tybee’s Department of Public Works sends work crews out to the beach every single morning to pick up trash from the previous day at a minimum cost of anywhere from $800 to $2300 per
day.
A fast food meal’s leftovers: Plastic shopping bag = .5 lb; Styrofoam cup, plate, napkin, spork, wrapping paper = .5 lb. Total: 1 lb.
A moderate summer day will see 8,000 visitors to the beach; a heavy day can bring 10,000 to 17,000 visitors. Special events can bring twice that!
If each one were to leave behind their lunch trash, that’s 4 TONS of trash that has to be picked up and removed by truck! Heavy days see even more per person left than the 8.5 tons you
might expect – an astounding 25 to 35 tons of trash may be removed after a special event.
Costs of removal include labor at $25 per hour, equipment depreciation rated at $125 per hour, hauling charges of $157 for 6 tons, and tipping fees at the landfill of $42 per ton. That’s
over $1000 to clean up after a light day!
The City of Tybee Island annually spends over $500,000 removing trash from its nearly four miles of beaches.
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About Tybee Island, GA.: The City of Tybee Island, Georgia is on the outermost barrier island off the Savannah area coast. With a wild bird sanctuary, over three miles of ocean beaches,
and salt marshes on the back river, outdoor recreation activities abound for visitors to the island. As a key defense point to the important Savannah port, Tybee’s Fort Screven, Tybee
Post Theater, Fort Pulaski, and the Tybee Island and Cockspur Lighthouses combine with the unique architectures of the island’s raised cottages to form a rich backdrop for history buffs.
Attracting a strong artistic community, there are several local supporting art galleries. Keeping the island interesting year round are several arts festivals, the Annual Pirate Fest,
the Beach Bum Parade, St Patrick’s Day celebrations, the Hot Rod Run, the Beach Bash, and the Christmas Parade, as well as fireworks displays on Independence and New Year’s Days off
the Walter W. Parker Pier and Pavilion. The Marine Science Center cooperates with Georgia’s DNR to protect threatened sea turtle species by searching for nests, protecting their eggs,
and making sure hatchlings make it to sea. For visitor information, stop by http://www.tybeevisit.com/, and to find more about the City of Tybee Island, visit our web site at http://www.cityoftybee.
org/.
About Tybee Clean Beach Vounteers: The group’s beach cleanings are intensive, seeking to remove the smallest items that may not be picked up by city employees or large scale beach sweeps
- things like small bits of plastic, butts, straws, stirrers, shards of plastic wrappers, band aids, hair ties, and countless other small items. These items most likely end up ingested
by marine life, swept out to sea, or buried deeper into the sand. Sponsored beach walks for groups or organizations of up to 20 individuals are a fun, community-based experience, learning
first-hand about marine debris found on Tybee's beaches. This is also an excellent way for students to earn Community Service credits. Join them in restoring the beauty of Tybee's beaches!
Visit their web site at http://tybeecleanbeach.simpl.com/.
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