Earth Day Beach Cleanup with Bacardi at HVKBP


Miami, Florida
April 22, 2024

Overview

On Monday, April 22, 2024, The International SeaKeepers Society partnered with Bacardi to celebrate Earth Day with a coastal cleanup at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park (HVKBP). Our Community Engagement team was joined by 25 volunteers, all employees from the Bacardi US Headquarters located in Coral Gables. Before heading out to clean, Maya Forbes, Education Coordinator on Marine Science at HVKBP, welcomed us with an introduction to the park, its history and its ecological significance. After an instructional and safety briefing from SeaKeepers, our volunteers headed out with gear to look for trash along the beach, in the grass, on the playground, and in the parking lot. After about 3 hours of cleaning, we filled 5 trash bags with just over 100 pounds of debris! Most of this trash was single-use food and beverage wrappers and containers, cigarette butts, assorted items of clothing, beach toys, and miscellaneous items. Once we had bagged, tied and weighed the trash, we discussed the implications of our findings, as well as ways to prevent future pollution of the park and the ocean. The vast majority of marine debris comes from land, traveling up to 60 miles to the nearest coastline through our rivers, canals, and storm drains. Understanding the cause of the marine debris crisis on a local level is crucial to making policy and lifestyle changes that can protect our ocean from pollution. We are grateful to the employees from Bacardi US Headquarters who joined us to celebrate Earth Day, and to Historic Virginia Key Beach Park for accommodating and educating us!


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