HomeMy Public PortalAboutCOTI_PR20150923_LitterWorkshop.docxPRESS ANNOUNCEMENT: Contact: Diane Schleicher, City Manager
For immediate release (912) 786-4573
Tybee Island Council to Host Litter Workshop
TYBEE ISLAND, GA. – (September 23, 2015) Beach litter. Brainstorming what to do about it will be the subject of a Litter Workshop taking place at the Tybee Island Public Safety Building
on September 30th, between 6:00 and 8:00 PM.
Tybee Island’s Department of Public Works fields a work crew every morning, 365 days a year. They empty the barrels in the beach parking lots, the barrels on the beaches, and they pick
up the litter on the sand that never makes it to the barrels. Off-season, it is rare for them to come back from this duty with anything less than 7 tons of trash. In-season, it is not
unusual for them to return with 20 tons, and holiday weekend days can produce as much as 35 tons of trash in a single day.
Much of this refuse, thankfully, is making it into the trash and recycling barrels placed at intervals on the beach and at every dune crossover point. Much of it, however, does not.
Small items like cigarette butts and plastic bags look interesting and edible to wildlife, and once ingested, can kill or cripple an animal. Larger items are unsightly and, if carried
out overnight during high tide or winds, may contribute to overall pollution at sea. Cigarette butts end up not breaking down over time, lasting a very long time in the environment.
As we have learned the last few years, plastics, even though they do degrade over time, simply break down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic which end up being ingested and
concentrated by animals in the food chain.
This year, the Tybee Island Police Department has been instructed to issue littering tickets with a zero tolerance policy, to try to reduce the amount of loose trash left on the beaches.
City ordinance already dictates that all trash at the beach must be contained; loose waste items at the beach may blow away if uncontained. The resulting enforcement efforts have resulted
in a 500% increase in the number of citations so far this year over 2014! However, enforcement efforts pale in comparison to the propensity of growing crowds of people to leave litter
behind. The number of people coming to the beach every day has increased, and while the added enforcement has proven to
increase the trash making into bins, the amount of trash still on the beach picked up each day by the DPW has remained about the same.
Education and enforcement are both focused on encouraging everyone properly to use the garbage and recycling containers that the city provides and to contain their litter from blowing
into the dunes or out into the water.
In an effort to get the best possible results on any new initiatives, the Tybee Island City Council asked for a survey to be done to see what people perceive as the worst polluting items
found on the beaches. Visitors, business owners, and residents alike took the survey, and all were in agreement that the top five items were: cigarette butts; plastic bottles; single
use plastic bags; Styrofoam cups; and, plastic cups. The next five were: aluminum cans and bottles; plastic cup lids; plastic straws; single use snack bags; and, Styrofoam take-out
containers or “clam shells”.
The first five items will be the targets of attack for the Wednesday night meeting in the Courtroom at the Public Safety Building. How can the community most effectively make sure that
the largest amount of trash possible is no longer left to contaminate the beaches and ocean wildlife? All interested parties are encouraged to attend this event beginning on Wednesday,
September 30th, at 6 PM at 78 Van Horn on Tybee Island to help make the most significant difference possible for this problem.
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/.
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