But why? the kid asked.
Because you’re the superhero and someone else is the villain, a woman replied to the child’s question about why they were picking up someone else’s litter at the Kingfish Boat Ramp in Holmes Beach.
Her answer made me want to applaud.
Why should we clean up messes made by other people?
Because we are superheroes of the environment and they are villains.
You can join the forces of good to fight the litterbugs and polluters Saturday, Sept. 21, when the International Coastal Cleanup takes place.
The global effort began in 1986, led by the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy in collaboration with many anti-litter groups.
Locally, Keep Manatee Beautiful coordinates the cleanup, which will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until about noon, with registration at three island locations: Anna Maria City Hall at 10005 Gulf Drive, the Kingfish Boat Ramp on Manatee Avenue west of the Anna Maria Island Bridge in Holmes Beach and Coquina Beach near the island trolley turnaround.
Registration also will take place in Cortez, at the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage Preserve, 11601 Cortez Road W.
“Taking part in a cleanup is often an eye-opening moment for volunteers that leads to year-round and lifelong stewardship,” said Allison Schutes, who directs the cleanup campaign for the Ocean Conservancy.
In 2018, more than a million volunteers in more than 120 countries collected 23.3 million pounds of trash, mostly from beaches and waterways, but also from roadsides.
Volunteers found some odd items — a chandelier, a garage door, a cash register, as well as wedding dresses, mattresses and artificial Christmas trees.
A washing machine might seem like an oddity to find discarded on the shore, but the OC reported that volunteers collected more than 16,000 appliances during the International Coastal Cleanup in 2018.
Volunteers also picked up about 5.7 million cigarette butts, 3.7 million food wrappers, 3.7 million plastic straws, 2 million pieces of plastic cutlery and about 1.8 million plastic beverage bottles.
Looking at the statistics, villains outnumber superheroes, but that’s how epic battles begin.
Encouraging participation in the Sept. 21 cleanup, Ocean Conservancy CEO Janis Searles Jones said in a news release, “We are gearing up for another million-strong volunteers showing up this year.
“Together, we can make a difference — for our community, for our coasts and for our ocean.”
Avengers assemble.
Get involved
For more information about the Ocean Conservancy and its International Coastal Cleanup, go online to signuptocleanup.org.
For more information about the local cleanup and Keep Manatee Beautiful, call 941-795-8272 or email keep@manateebeautiful.com.
Did you know?
Since the inception of the International Coastal Cleanup in 1986, more than 15 million volunteers have collected about 315 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways.
This column was published in The Islander newspaper.
Archives for The Islander are online here.