Happy Earth Day!

UF/IFAS Extension Sea Grant in Okaloosa and Walton Counties and Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Okaloosa County’s Department of Tourist Development, helped celebrate Earth Day by hosting coastal cleanups in both counties.

On Saturday, April 11, 2026, volunteers put on gloves and grabbed buckets to comb the beach for litter. There were five clean-up locations and 383 volunteer participants. Volunteers came from Okaloosa and Walton Counties and even traveled from nearby states, like Georgia, to help. Additionally, 25 local businesses and organizations sponsored and helped coordinate the event by providing free breakfast to participants, cleanup supplies, and prizes.

The volunteers made a big difference! An estimated 302 pounds of litter were removed from our beaches. We were excited to have an estimated 600 cigarette butts collected as well. This is good news because the number of cigarette butts found each year continues to go down.

For additional fun, at the Surf Hut and the Crab Trap – Destin coastal clean-up locations, there was a competition to find the most unique item on the beach. This year’s winners included a bottle of Elmer’s Glue and a chain!

Thanks to all volunteers for an impactful coastal clean-up. If you would like to join a future coastal clean-up, please contact naturalreasources@Destinfwb.com