Going to the beach is always a fun time for my family. In Liberty County, visiting Sunbury Boat Ramp, Riceboro Boat Ramp, Half Moon Boat Marina, or walking around the pond at Bryant Commons is very relaxing. Liberty County is a coastal community, and we have many homes that are right off the water. We also have one of the prettiest barrier islands on the Georgia Coast, St Catherine’s Island. But it will only be pretty as long as we protect its white sandy beaches, the ocean, and the waters that flow around it.
Keep Liberty Beautiful has been sponsoring volunteer beach ‘sweeps’ with goodhearted local boaters and volunteers since 2007 to clean up the public beach on St Catherine’s Island. It is hard to believe that this somewhat isolated beach would have that much trash unless you realize the powerful consequences of marine debris and beachgoers who leave their trash behind. Litter is a sad, continuous problem, whether roadside or a park, but it is unfortunate when it affects our waterways.
Having clean water to drink is very important to humans, animals, and plants alike. To have clean water and unpolluted beaches, we have to fight the damaging effects of marine debris. How does marine debris occur? Unfortunately, when people litter, it put our waterways and the creatures that depend on them for their habitats in danger. Our oceans get filled with many consumer plastics, metals, paper, fishing gear, and other lost or discarded items that enter the marine environment every day. This chaos makes marine debris one of the most widespread pollution problems facing the world’s ocean and waterways.
Marine debris is an eyesore along our coastline. It ruins the beauty of the beaches, and I am sure it creates an economical cost from the loss of valuable tourism dollars. Would you want to swim at a beach littered in the trash? One of the saddest impacts of marine debris is wildlife entanglement. Abandoned nets, ropes, fishing lines, six-pack rings, and other types of marine debris can be death traps for many forms of marine life. Turtles, fish, and even birds can get tangled up in these items leading to injury, suffocation, and starvation. Many animals can also mistake debris for food, leading to internal damage and intestinal blockage.
Everyone in Liberty County should be concerned about the importance of water issues. These are issues that all of us, young and old, need to confront. Over forty percent of our county is marshes, wetlands, ponds, creeks, and rivers. So, whether you are a fisherman, an avid boater, a beachgoer, or just someone who likes clean water. We can all do these things:
Keep streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and storm drain free of trash - they can empty into our waterways and oceans.
At the beach, park, playground, and even at work or in town, dispose of all trash in the proper receptacles or take your trash home with you. Pick up any debris you see while out and recycle as many items as possible.
Think about the materials and packaging you might be taking to the beach or for a day on the water. Choose reusable items and useless single-use, disposable ones. Never dump the trash in the water and report any illegal dumping that you observe.
Marina operators participate in a Clean Marina Program, https://cleanmarina.org/. Provide clearly labeled and adequately sized garbage and recycling bins for your staff and customers. Keep trash cans, dumpsters, and recycling bins from overflowing by emptying them regularly. Make sure they are covered, secured, and can’t be opened by strong winds or animals.
The only way to ensure we have clean waterways is to actively prevent items from ending up as marine debris, whether we are on land or water. The other meaningful way all of us can fight marine debris is to participate in area cleanups around our community, and you can join in our Beach Sweep Cleanup on September 11, 2021, at St Catherine’s Island. We need more Boat Captains too. Sign up at https://bit.ly/beachsweep2021 , or contact us at Keep Liberty Beautiful at (912) 880- 4888 or email klcb@libertycountyga.com to get involved today.