A Pinellas County student holds up a plastic bag she found during a recent coastal cleanup. Photo by Environment Florida
Quality Journalism for Critical Times
Have you ever picked up trash from a beach, a park, or a roadside? I have. And before you ask, no it was NOT because a judge sentenced me to community service.
I think every Floridian should do a little litter cleanup, if only because it would make everyone less likely to litter again. Plus, when you pick up trash in Florida, you are liable to find some treasure. Last month, some kids visiting from Missouri were cleaning debris from the mangroves on Big Pine Key when they stumbled on a kilo of cocaine.
On the days I was picking up garbage I didn’t find anything like that. I did see a lot of plastic – more plastic than was on view in the “Barbie” movie , in fact. There were discarded plastic bags, plastic bottles, and cigarette butts , which are plastic too.
Apparently, we have some lawmakers who are okay with plastic trash — in fact, they’d like to see more.