International Coastal Cleanup Day will be held in South Walton on Saturday, September 19th, from 8:00-10:00 AM. Join Visit South Walton as our community helps keep Walton County’s beaches clean and pristine! Visit South Walton will be hosting the event at the following beach accesses: Dune Allen, Ed Walline, Inlet Beach, and Miramar Beach. It's easy to get involved! There is no age limit or special skills required. Supplies and water will be provided to all volunteers. For more information on how you can support beach cleanup in South Walton, contact Stacey Infinger at (850) 267-4578.

If you're not located in South Walton, you can still help! Bring a trash bag to the beach of your choice and do your best to fill it. You'll likely be horrified by just how much trash beach goers leave behind. In fact, the Ocean Conservancy estimates that well over 144 million pounds of trash have been removed from beaches during the International Coastal Cleanup over the last 25 years. The top 10 items found were cigarettes, food wrappers, plastic beverage bottles, plastic bags, caps/lids, plastic utensils, straws, glass beverage bottles, aluminum cans, and paper bags. They've even found 117 mattresses. I mean... what the heck?! That breaks my heart. If everyone cleaned up their own trash, this mess could be avoided. For the past several years, I've made a point to always bring a bag with me to the beach. Not only do I make sure all of our trash is in the bag, but I also pick up trash I see that others have left. If we all took this little step, it would make a huge impact. Although I think everyone who lives near the coast should participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day on September 19th, there's no need to limit efforts to one day. Every beach visit should include a little housekeeping.

According to Ocean Conservancy, here are 10 things you can do for trash free seas:

use a trash can with lid
drink tap water in a reusable bottle
be a green boater with with Ocean Conservancy's Good Mate program
write your legislator asking for policies that address ocean trash
clean up with the International Coastal Cleanup
use an ashtray so cigarette butts don't reach waterways and the ocean
go the extra mile to sort and separate items that can be recycled
take along your reusable coffee mug, picnic supplies, or shopping bag
buy less to reduce the amount of manufactured items winding up as trash in the ocean
send emails to companies asking them to reduce packaging and create new ocean-friendly materials

Our family loves our area's turquoise water and the sea life that calls it home. Not only do we try to protect it, Andy also finds artistic inspiration from it. Here are some of his ocean-inspired pieces of art that are currently available...

If you're interested in purchasing any of these pieces, contact Andy.

South Walton Coastal Cleanup Day 2015