Now You Can Recycle and Work on Your Tan at Several Area Beaches

Recycling bins are coming to a beach near you!

Pinellas County is kicking off the new recycling program this month, which by September 2011 will offer recycling at 15 area beaches. Approximately 350 blue recycling bins accepting plastic and aluminum containers will be set up next to trash bins at each site. Clearwater’s is one of the Phase 1 sites being outfitted with recycling bins in July. Honeymoon Island and Dunedin Causeway are among the Phase 2 sites slated to receive recycling containers by September. For a full list of the beaches receiving the recycling bins, go to http://www.pinellascounty.org/utilities/beach/.

The new recycling initiative is the result of a pilot program conducted at three Pinellas County beaches through funding from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The results of the pilot program were promising:  99% of beachgoers surveyed said that they would recycle if given the opportunity, and waste studies showed that recycling plastic and aluminum would reduce beach trash volume by at least 50 percent. 

Such efforts to reduce beach trash are sorely needed. According to a May 2008 article appearing on www.lighterfootstep.com, bottled water alone produces as much as 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. While plastic used for bottled beverages is in high demand by recyclers, over 80 percent of plastic bottles are simply thrown away. Much of this wasted plastic never even makes it into trash bins or landfills: the oceans become the final receptacles for a lot of plastic waste, putting marine life at grave risk.

Indeed, plastic comprises an estimated 90% of floating ocean debris. By some estimates, 100,000 marine mammals and as many as 1 million sea birds die annually from mistakenly eating plastic trash or becoming entangled in it. Sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to ingesting plastic waste, confusing it for jellyfish on which they feed. 

I hope the county’s recycling efforts prove to be a success and that ones like it will eventually cover all local beaches and parks. According to the county’s website, the City of Clearwater is considering a similar recycling program for Clearwater Beach, and a recycling program is already partly underway at Fort DeSoto park, http://www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm. 

Of course, the best way to prevent plastic and aluminum-related pollution is to not use disposables at all. But when that’s not a viable option, recycling programs like this one have the potential for making a big impact.   

For tips on sustainable living, visit Pinellas County Extension’s Sustainable Living page, http://pinellas.ifas.ufl.edu/sustainability/index.shtml, or sign up for the Thinking Green blog,  http://pcethinkinggreen.blogspot.com/)