INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — On Saturday morning, hundreds of Indian River County residents will arm themselves with trash bags and latex gloves and storm the beaches and riverfront by foot, and the Indian River Lagoon by kayak and by boat in the ongoing effort to eradicate trash from the area’s waterways.
The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, now in its 27th year, brought 598,000 volunteers together last year to remove 9.1 million pounds of trash from 20,000 miles of shoreline. About 400 local residents did their part to help make that impact.
Robin Graves, chair of the City of Sebastian Natural Resources Board will head out from the Main Street boat ramp Saturday to clean several spoil islands. It’s something they do four times each year. Indian River County has 43 spoil islands and the Natural Resources Board has formally adopted the northernmost one, called IR1, through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
“IR 1 is designated as a recreation island. Since it is heavily used, it unfortunately gets a lot of trash. Unfortunately people don’t always pack out what they pack in so we try to make it hospitable for the people,” Graves said. “When we finish with that one, we move onto the next island.”
At their last cleanup in July, the group removed 500 pounds of debris from five spoil islands. “Items picked up were glass bottles, cans, garbage, carpet remnants, a barbecue grill, a PVC foot stool, plastic sheets, an air conditioner grill plate and assorted scrap metal,” according to a report of the event.
“We do have volunteers and we love for people to help, the more volunteers the better,” Graves said. “We get a mix of people, some who are retired and some students come to get their volunteer hours.”
“The only issue is that a lot of times we don’t have enough boats. We usually have one to three boats, one of the board members has a boat,” she said.
If boat owners would be willing to transport volunteers, but are not crazy about the idea of hauling trash back in their boats, Graves said that’s not a concern, as the City of Sebastian sends a boat and a staffer around to pick up all the trash bags at the end of the cleanup.
The cleanups are an important way for the volunteer board to stay intimately in touch with the fragile Indian River Lagoon environment that they protect in their committee work.
“One reason I do it is because I grew up here, I’ve lived here all my life,” Graves said. “And since it’s the Natural Resources Board we like to stay active in our natural resources and in keeping our natural resources clean.”
The Sebastian Natural Resources Board is just one of the many dedicated groups, schools, clubs and businesses all over the Indian River County participating on Saturday.
Volunteers are invited to show up at any of the following beach cleanup sites to join these groups: The St. John of the Cross Youth Group and Girard Equipment will be cleaning the beach at Sexton Plaza. Kimley Horn and Associates are heading up efforts at Round Island Park. The Vero Beach High School girls volleyball team and Glendale Christian School will be stationed at South Beach Park. The Exchange Club of the Treasure Coast and Little Dragon arate will be tackling Humiston Park. The Boys and Girls Clubs are cleaning Wabasso Beach and jaycee Beach and the Friends of the Sebastian Inlet State Park are organizing volunteers at those beaches.
The event is being coordinated locally again this year by Keep Indian River Beautiful (KIRB). Through grants from the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Inland Navigation District, plus private sponsorships and assistance from waste haulers, KIRB provides trash bags, protective gloves, T-shirts and other supplies to volunteer groups.
“I walk the beach and swim in the ocean daily. During my walks I see fish swimming and jumping, turtle tracks, nests, and the occasional broken eggs, once I even saw a baby turtle,” said KIRB executive director Vicki Wild.
“Other things I see on my walk is trash, like plastic bags, balloons with strings, bottles, tires, boat parts, and cans to name a few,” said Wild, who runs KIRB out of a storefront at the Indian River Mall.
Cleanups are not only a way to physically remove hazardous debris from waterways and beaches to protect both wildlife and people, but they are also a powerful education tool.
“For many volunteers, it is thier first glimpse into the deterioration of our oceans and waterways. It also teaches the effect we have on our marine life, wildlife, and human life,” she said. “Uniting our community by working together builds bridges of friendship between all people, faith based organizations, civic leadership and neighborhoods.”
BOX – The Florida Coastal Cleanup begins at 8 a.m. Saturday and runs through noon. Volunteers are needed to help pick up trash at the following North Indian River County locations:
1. Riverview Park, cleanup of the park and riverfront, and of the river and spoil islands by kayak. Call Kristen Beck at the Florida Outdoors Center at (772) 202-0220.
2. Main Street boat ramp, spoil island cleanup with the City of Sebastian Natural Resources Board. Call Robin Graves at (772) 918-8868.
3. Dale Wimbrow Park – waterway cleanup by kayak, call Steve Philipson at About Kayaks (772) 589-3469.
4. Sebastian Inlet State Park – Join the Friends of the Sebastian Inlet State Park on north and south sides. Call Terry O’Toole at (772) 589-2147.
5. Wabasso Beach – Join volunteers the Sebastian Boys and Girls Club. Call Rasheedah at (772) 571-0810.
For more information about the International Coastal Cleanup or to register as a volunteer to get an event T-shirt, call Keep Indian River Beautiful at (772) 226-7738 before the event or visit www.kirb.org.