Written by Mary Schneider, Operation TRAP's Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Gulf Scholar Thoughts from Operation TRAP's UF Undergraduate Gulf Scholar: Mary Schneider During my internship, my primary role was cleaning out storm drain traps—an ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Water
Operation TRAP (Trash Reduction for Aquatic Preserves) has just completed its first year of the project. Within the last year, we have installed 3 Watergoats, 8 storm drain traps, and 6 monofilament tubes in Pasco County and 9 storm drain traps ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Extension, Water
One of the most common items found during litter cleanups are cigarette butts. They were the number one debris item picked up over the past 25 years during the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. In 2022 alone, the Ocean Conservancy ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources, Water
If you’ve ever peeked over the railings of a bridge spanning an urban stream, walked along the beach, or even paddled in some of our more rural rivers, you know we have a trash problem in our waterways. Northwest Florida is crisscrossed ... READ MORE
Category: Natural Resources
Single-use plastic consumption has been steadily increasing since the 1950’s, leading to an increase of garbage in our rivers, streams, and oceans. Recent estimates indicate that 23 million metric tons of plastic end up in aquatic environments ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Natural Resources, Water
Gear up for the 7th Annual UF/IFAS Coastal Cleanup in Hernando County! Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023 Time: 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Check-in Location: 6340 Shoal Lind Blvd., Spring Hill Pre-registration: https://2023coastalcleanup.eventbrite.ca Each ... READ MORE
Category: 4-H & Youth, Clubs & Volunteers, Coasts & Marine, Community Volunteers, Conservation, Events, Natural Resources, Recreation, Relationships & Family, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife, Work & LifeThe 2022 Coastal Cleanup was a success! We had 266 volunteers of all ages remove debris from land and sea. Our trash sorting station not only logged the types and amounts of trash but also weighed the debris this year. We estimated that ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Natural Resources, Recreation, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife
Coastal cleanup by the numbers This year, the International Coastal Cleanup was a back in full swing and was a huge success! Nearly 300 volunteers turned out to remove almost 4,000 pounds of trash from local shorelines! This is second only ... READ MORE
Category: Coasts & Marine, Community Volunteers, Natural Resources, Water