Welcome to the Fall edition of our newsletter, chock-full of great updates including the impact summary from September’s International Coastal Cleanup Day, + Instagram Contest Winners, our upcoming Give Miami Day fundraising campaign on Thursday, November 15th and our recommendations for Ocean Friendly Holiday Gift Giving.   Thank you for joining us in our crusade against marine debris and single-use plastics. Read on…

International Coastal Cleanup Day Impact Summary

This past September, VolunteerCleanup.org organized Miami-Dade’s participation in the global, 33rd annual International Coastal Cleanup. For our 4th year leading the event, we are pleased to announce that we had our biggest turnout ever, with close to 3,000 volunteers removing nearly 15,000 pounds of marine debris from 49 different shoreline locations across Miami Dade!  A big thank you to all of the volunteers, Site Captains, and partners who made this county-wide cleanup such a success!

*This effort was made possible by the generous support of our presenting sponsor, Covanta, with additional support from the City of Miami Beach – MB Rising Above, Capital One, Revolution 93.5 FM, and Miami Beach Suncare.

We’d also like to recognize the Winners of the Instagram Photo Contest:

• Best Action Shot: @ChicoandtheManny getting deep into the mangroves on his paddleboard with his dog onboard! https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwV_JGHB_LrxYGl0GZ6PXP0Q1wc1AAdI9HeaU0/
• Best Group Photo: @PlantedInMiami: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwTRvbHGwJ/  I mean, who doesn’t love a Charlie’s Angels redux with trash pickers!!
• Strangest Find:  @JulesTheFoodDetective and @Glow_Riaaa: a mop, 2 instruments, a bike wheel, a metal fan, New Years Boaters Ball Drop, and Bobs Barricades: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwY5WPFrda/ and https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwsEFtHsCB/ 
• Most Detailed Oriented/Most Microplastics: @Alpz24 https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwaMCinuz5/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwY0bgHCA9/

Honorable Mentions to:

Most Miamian way to arrive at a cleanup! On a wave runner naturally! https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwZhKhnU4o/

We don’t actually know who this is in order to award a prize, but it’s amazing and we had to share!

Winners will receive their choice of an ICC shirt, or ICC 2018 reusable stainless steel cup, both with the adorable Puffer Fish artwork from this year’s theme.

Gifts that Protect the Ocean!

With the holiday season just around the corner, check out some of our favorite new items that make wonderful, thoughtful gifts for that sea-hugger on your list.

The Cora Ball Is The World’s First Microfiber Catching Laundry Ball! It helps stop microfibers from washing down the drain into the public waterways! $29.99  www.coraball.com 

The Pirani Cup: We LOVE our reusable cups at VolunteerCleanup.org and we are always trying new ones. We were very impressed when we met these guys at OceanFest. Their cup is vacuum insulated, stackable and super lightweight making it super easy to #partysustainbly. https://www.pirani.life

Final Straw:  I’m sure just about everyone has seen this Kickstarter for the original reusable, collapsible straw that raised $1.8 million, but if not, check it out for anyone who just can’t stop sucking and needs their straw. https://finalstraw.com

And…. for any other gifts, did you know that your online purchases can make a difference? AmazonSmile donates to Miami-Dade Coastal Cleanup Inc (our legal 501c3 nonprofit name) when you do your holiday or any other shopping online at Amazon using our smile.amazon.com page smile.amazon.com/ch/42-1766017   Visit the link for a one-time setup. Once you’ve set your Amazon account to donate to us, each time you shop, just start at smile.amazon.com and the donations are automatic at no additional cost to you! The more you shop, the more they donate to us!

Our Current Impact Summary

*Facilitated via our web platform since inception in 2014

Miami Beach Single-use plastics ban! (thanks to our Activism)

Looks like our August 2017 causeway cleanup with then-candidate, now Mayor Gelber made a big impact.  Miami Beach has JUST passed a ban on single-use plastic bags and plastic straws/stirrers on city property. Thank you to Mayor Dan Gelber for initiating this and to Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Gongora for co-sponsoring these items. Miami Beach is committed to working toward being a plastic-free city: Read the Miami Herald Article

Museum of Ice Cream to introduce marine degradable sprinkles! (thanks to our Activism)

Our experience with The Museum of Ice Cream in Miami Beach is another great example of activism at work.  As a result of our viral video, the local coverage and even the national media attention it created, proactive outreach, positive collaborative meetings, plus pressure from west coast counterparts, we are thrilled to announce that change is happening! The Museum has finally found a solution to replace the plastic sprinkles in their sprinkle pools with MARINE degradable sprinkles. They are good people who needed some education and a bit of nudging to finally find the right solution. Success arises when you don’t just walk past a problem. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2018/07/31/museum-ice-cream-sounds-dreamy-but-its-got-big-eco-problem/768766002/

And as you’ve probably heard, there has been a wave of announcements by companies working to reduce and phase out single-use plastics. Not only has Starbucks made big headlines about eliminating plastics straws with their redesigned lids, but some other major players in hospitality are following suit.

Marriott: We were thrilled to hear that our partners at Marriott, who we have led on cleanups with local teams as well as corporate leaders, is taking action across the company to reduce plastic waste

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/marriott-international-ditch-plastic-straws-shampoo-bottles/

Carnival Cruiselines: One of our ICC Site Hosts have also taken a significant pledge

https://cruiseline.com/advice/what-s-hot/news/carnival-stops-including-straws-with-drinks

Disney to Eliminate Plastic Straws, Stirrers, and Styrofoam Cups in All Parks, Hotels, and Cruise Line!

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/disney-eliminate-plastic-straws-stirrers-styrofoam-cup/ 

Adidas joins the fight against plastic

https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/16/news/adidas-using-recycled-plastic-only/index.html

ONE OF THE BIGGEST FOOD COMPANIES IN THE WORLD IS CUTTING 100 MILLION PLASTIC STRAWS BY 2020

https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/aramark-reduce-plastic-straws-by-2020

All of this activity shows that the movement is gaining momentum and the tides are changing toward plastic-free seas! Everyone has a role to play: Consumers who practice personal responsibility and reduce their reliance on single-use plastics, governments and elected officials to implement sensible policies and infrastructure improvements and the private sector to step up and do that’s what right and what is needed!

Our Current Impact Summary

*Facilitated via our web platform since inception in 2014

I did a little unplanned cleanup while on vacation at Blue Springs State Park in Florida the other day when I discovered polystyrene pieces littered where tons of birds hang out just to the left of the canoe rental launch. Come to figure out that the foam pieces came from uncovered foam buoys that the park uses. I’m pretty surprised that a state park – a sanctuary for manatees and other wildlife – would make such an egregious decision on material, but I emailed the park manager and the result is those units are now out of the water and new encapsulated buoys have been ordered. Lesson – If you see something, say something.

We’re not one to give up on a tough challenge, so when the Floatopia ‘organizer’ (this is an informal gathering spread via social media) contacted us again, said the next Floatopia would take place in Miami Beach in just a few weeks (September 5, 2015), and asked if we would help with eco-engagement, we immediately said yes. This Floatopia was going to be much different than the one in April.

A significant percentage of Floatopians left a huge mess (literally trash and floats left everywhere – including the water and incoming tide line). Our small group of volunteers were overwhelmed by the sheer number of people thinking someone else was going to come clean up after them (many volunteers aborted their participation after the traffic and parking situation was too difficult). Our buckets in the midst of the people were great in theory, but we didn’t have enough volunteers to keep them empty. It was also difficult to spread a ‘Respect the Beach’ message to 8,000 people coming in through 10 different beach entrances. The city wasn’t happy, the residents had their pitchforks out, and the ‘organizer’ didn’t want this to be their legacy. The ‘organizer’ invited us to dinner to strategize on what we can do differently to embrace the idea of a fun event that respected the beauty of the beach that everyone came to enjoy.

Our mission this time was to focus our efforts on a few key areas. 1) Messaging through clever signage, 2) One-on-One engagement through Trash Bag Handouts (we mistakenly shot that idea down in April, but realized it is the best way to get people to pack out their own mess) 3) Monitoring the shoreline to prevent trash from getting in the water (along with the Trash Float which was still a big hit), and 4) Engaging the city to do more (they added staff / police and started a “Litter Free Miami Beach” campaign). In addition, the Floatopia ‘organizer’ who genuinely wants to to be a litter free event, coordinated a ‘used float donation’ with a charity for people who brought their float to our tent. The end result was a manageable mess in which another group of volunteers – along with City / County workers and a hired crew paid for out of the organizers pocket – was able to clean up in a few hours. Did people still leave a mess? Yes. Was it as bad as last year? No. Did we feel defeated this time? Absolutely not.

On Monday, we got a phone call from the Police Major responsible for the beach as well as a few emails from City Commissioners and Staff who loved the signage and congratulated our efforts. Our goal has always been to learn best practices for managing large events that we can share with the city, and there is no doubt that many of these techniques will be utilized in upcoming non-permitted / sanctioned events – hopefully we won’t have to be involved in all of them.

If you want to print these signs yourself for your beaches, feel free to download the templates for 24×36 signs here and here. (If you want the originals to modify, just drop us an email).

Commissioner Ken Russell proclaims May 12, 2016 as “Henry West Lab 5th Grade Class Day” for their work in raising awareness of plastic trash in Biscayne Bay and taking action with shoreline cleanups. Story after the video.

It all started with an exceptional teacher who invited me to come in and give a presentation on Plastic Trash in our Oceans. Part of my presentation encourages them to think big by showing examples of kids being Change Makers. The message got across because they wrote letters to all candidates for the District 2 election in City of Miami. 5 of the 9 candidates came and we showed them one heck of a mess, and it made a serious impact. Once Ken Russell had won and gotten his bearings straight, the kids wrote another letter back and asked to present what they’ve learned in front of the entire commission. He not only invited the entire 5th grade class to come in to speak, but also awarded them their own day.

“These Studies and events sparked a sincere motivation on the part of the fifth-grade class of Henry West laboratory school to do something about the problem, confident that with adequate measures taken on land such as more trash cans along the shoreline, recycling bins, additional maintenance workers, street cleaners, and storm drain covers, much of the trash found in our very own Biscayne Bay can be prevented from every reaching the water. It is, therefore, fitting and appropriate that local officials, on behalf of the citizens of Miami, pause in our official deliberations to lauded and commend the fifth grade class of Henry West Laboratory School for their diligent application to study and their praiseworthy initiative in wishing to work together with our City Commission in order to help solve the problem of uncollected solid waste and pollution along our shoreline”

Every year, a very large unsanctioned / unpermitted event called Floatopia brings 2-3,000 people with pool floats to Miami Beach as a result of a very effective social media concept. Every year locals complain about the amount of litter that ends up on the beach and in the waters. This year, a couple eco-groups decided to do something about it and put a plan together to help mitigate the problem. A major undertaking to say the least. Read how it went below….

We engaged, we educated, and we facilitated for 12 straight hours. We had some core folks and partnerships who were absolutely committed to doing something to keep our beaches clean. Our plan was specific – help the floatopians keep our beach clean, with a core principal of not cleaning up or appearing to be the cleaning team. People need to be responsible and not think someone else is going to clean up after them, but maybe reminding them and making it a little bit easier would help. People were grateful we were there on the sand with our trash buckets strategically placed in the soft sand and in the water in a Trash Float where people could give us their trash and we would take it to the trash bins the equivalent of a million miles away. People positively responded, gave hugs and said how much they respected and appreciated that we were out there volunteering – promising that they won’t leave any trash. People were emptying their trash in the bins and in the buckets, and the beach was surprisingly clean. All worked brilliantly until about 6pm as we realized we were overwhelmed by over 10,000 people – most who have been partying and drinking all day in 90 degree weather. Trash was everywhere on the beach and shoreline as the tides were coming in. Dead floats were left like beached whales just inches from the water. It made me very angry, sad and puzzled that these people would come to such a beautiful beach on a gorgeous day and trash my beach. Last night I was physically and emotionally drained… I was beat down and felt that I had failed. But as I thought about it thought the day, I realized I had actually succeeded. Sure, they left as much trash as they did last time. But there were 4-5 times the number of people. It would have been 4-5 times worse if I hadn’t poured every ounce of my energy into trying to be the change that I wanted to see. I am proud that I *know* I made an impact. I’ve never undertaken such a huge endeavor, but I come away with lessons. And data. And research. And a true understanding that if we are going to solve the problem of marine debris, we need to educate, engage and facilitate everyone doing their part. I have done something big. I am proud. The volunteers who worked along side me have done something big. They should be proud. So thank you to the 75% of floatopians that did the right thing, and to the other 25% – you aren’t invited back to MY beach. Special shout out to my love Dara Schoenwald who lent 100% support and commitment to my crazy idea to try and change the world.

Our next steps are to regroup and see what we lessons we use to figure out how our city can handle large volumes of people without destroying the very thing they come to enjoy.

Great article which gives a good balance of the day: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article19167579.html

I got an email out of the blue from a 5th grade teacher who heard about my work. She had been teaching her students about trash in the waters, and and asked if I we could coordinate a cleanup for her 45 students. The plan ultimately evolved into a one hour presentation to the students and then a shoreline cleanup involving the students and their siblings / parents. We broke up into 3 teams : 1) plastic bottles, 2) rigid plastics for the Method Soap collection, and 3) trash. We picked up 40+ bags of trash and recyclables that the ocean spit out in a little over an hour. Honestly, this was the most fun I’ve had in a long time – especially knowing that none of these 45 kids will ever litter. This may be a new direction in my strategy.

You can see my presentation here :

In a major win for environmental activists (including myself, Michael DeFilippi, Surfrider SoFla, and Biscayne Bay Water Keepers), The City of Miami Beach has voted UNANIMOUSLY to ban Polystyrene food takeout containers from Miami Beach parks and sidewalk cafes. City vendors and restaurants that operate on city sidewalks cannot use the product. The ban was sponsored by Commissioner Michael Grieco who said ““It’s terrible for the environment, it blows around the city, it breaks up, the chemicals are harmful, the wildlife and our fish … eat these things, and it’s time to get with the program”. Miami Beach is the first city in Florida to enact such a prohibition. We even made the evening news : http://www.local10.com/news/commissioners-to-give-final-vote-on-banning-styrofoam-in-miami-beach/27110242 

Had a good day lobbying the City of Miami Beach with my allies Michael DeFilippi, Surfrider SoFla, and Sean ‘Birdman’ Gould (Birdmans Trash Initiative) to ban Polystyrene (similar to Styrofoam) Take Out containers and cups. As usual, I decided to bring visual aids – 2 shopping bags full of foam that I picked up in one little area of the canal shoreline on my way to the commission meeting (I always know where I will find trash).

Hit READ MORE to see the video and pictures I brought.. 

In addition to bringing bags of trash, I also gave my elected officials photos really demonstrating the problem.

Watch if you’d like. Check out video 2 of April 23rd meeting (http://web.miamibeachfl.gov/mbtv77/scroll.aspx?id=52532) at the 17 minute mark is my presentation. Minute 27 is Michael. In Hour 3 minute 15, there becomes a lively debate within the commission – but everyone is on-board with trying to solve the problem either through carrot or stick. There may be a state preemption law that prevents us from restricting, but the ideas are flowing. Final result was a WIN of eliminating foam / polystyrene from City offices and a revisit after legal research on whether we can do it legislatively. My favorite part was when Mayor Philip Levine and Commissioner Michael Grieco agreed with my line ‘Let ’em sue us’. I appreciate that these folks recognize the problem and have the guts to take it on.

Miami Beach kayaker is on mission to clean up city’s waterways and help alleviate backed-up drains

Miami Herald – Front Page of B Section – Sunday May 15,2014
Read the full article here: https://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/15/3997477/miami-beach-kayaker-is-on-a-mission.html#storylink=cpy