Did you know that we cleaned up 3,888 lbs. of trash in total for our County during Coastal Cleanup Month last September? While that is impressive, there is still more to be done – please continue to help keep our beaches clean.

You may have heard about “Pack it in, Pack it out” or “Leave No Trace” principles. Although rooted in backcountry camping, we can still apply the Leave No Trace principles to our favorite environment: the beach!

By taking care of our beaches we help the health of our oceans, marine life, promote positive tourism, and sustain a clean and safe environment for all to enjoy.

Here are some tips to enjoy an eco-friendly Leave No Trace beach day:

1. Clean up any trash on the beach or in the water – bring a reusable bag or bucket. You can even decorate your trash bucket with fun stickers and inspire people around you to do the same! If we all made a small effort and picked up a few pieces of litter, we truly could make the beach and the ocean a cleaner place.
2. Remember to clean up your trash too and “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” what you can. Recycle the cans and glass bottles that you do use.
3. Pack it in, pack it out. Even though we have waste bins for your use, please use them as a last resort. Trash can blow out of waste bins and make its way into the ocean.
4. Bring your own eco-friendly water bottle or tumbler to the beach. Plastic water bottles and bottle caps are ranked as the second and third most collected items on our beaches. What’s a possible solution? Bring your own eco-friendly water bottle or tumbler! Not only is this solution easy, it is also economical.
5. Pack lunch in reusable containers. Choose reusable utensils, as well as sandwich and snack bags, and ditch the plastic straws, utensils and bags. Pack items in a cooler, insulated lunch bag, or use reusable grocery bags.
6. The sand is not an ash tray – Cigarette butts are the number 1 piece of trash picked up from our beaches. Ensure cigarette ash and butts go in the trash and don’t end up in our oceans.
7. Take Only Pictures, Leave Only Footprints.

Thank you for doing your part to protect our beaches.