Despite the morning rainstorms, 178 volunteers dedicated their Saturday towards keeping coastal Hernando County beautiful. Spanning from Alfred McKethan Pine Island Park to Aripeka, volunteers removed 7,412 pieces of trash from the land and waterways. This marine debris equates to 1,020 pounds! The top ten items* are as follows:

• Cigarette butts
• Food wrappers
• Beverage cans
• Plastic beverage bottles
• Glass beverage bottles
• Plastic bags
• Plastic take-out containers
• Foam plates and cups
• Straws
• Plastic bottle caps

*This ranking does not include small pieces of unidentifiable plastic, foam, or paper.

The weirdest items collected during this cleanup:
• Particleboard shelving unit
• Vacuum
• Bed mattress components
• Metal railings from a building/porch
• Portable speakers
• 5-gallon bucket of used motor oil

Thank you to the volunteers who sorted and tallied the trash collected during the cleanup. This data is provided to the Ocean Conservancy as part of the International Coastal Cleanup.

Additional thank you goes out to the sponsors of this event for providing all of the necessary supplies and giveaways: Earth’s Best Natural Pest Management, Bayside AutoWorks, Get Up and Go Weeki Wachee, Affordable Hauling Brooksville, Outback Steakhouse Carrollwood, Blue Pelican Marina, MultiColor Media, and Monte Tolson.

The University of Florida- An Equal Opportunity Institution.

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