Our beaches are safer and cleaner thanks to this local initiative
By Kelsey Thomas
A local initiative is keeping it ‘beachy clean’ here in Virginia Beach. After a hiatus from COVID, Keep It Beachy Clean is back and regaining the momentum to promote positive litter prevention on our beaches.
The mission of Keep It Beachy Clean is to reach beach visitors about keeping the beaches clean and keeping litter out of the ocean with positive messaging. It initially started in 2015 as a cigarette litter prevention program while the G.R.E.E.N. Committee of the Resort Advisory Commission began working on a clean beaches program at the same time, so the pair came together to develop one strong message across the board.
“Thanks for keeping it beachy clean” is the motto of their message and can be found on branded stickers, magnets, kids’ activity sheets and more. Other efforts previously included beach cleanups, straw-free Earth Day with participating local restaurants and partnerships with organizations like AskHRGreen.org. There are some exciting new things that will be happening with the initiative this year.
Program Director Christina Trapani shares that “beach toys are one of the more common litter items in the summertime,” so they are teaming up with Lynnhaven River Now, the Tidewater Master Naturalists and Virginia Beach Lifeguards “to place beach toy recycling boxes around the oceanfront.”
This will allow children to pick up beach toys on the way in and return them on their way out, teaching them the importance of recycling and reusing. It will also be effective in reducing the amount of plastic that ends up on our beaches.
How You Can Keep It Beachy Clean
Trapani shares tricks beyond just picking up after yourself on the beach that further supports their mission.
“Bring your own bag when you are going shopping,” says Trapani. “Reusable bags aren’t just for grocery shopping, but any type of shopping,” especially when you’re doing some shopping around the oceanfront.
“Skip the straw when you can,” she adds. “Or bring your own straw if you have one.” Plastic straws and other single-use plastics are very harmful to marine life, especially for sea turtles, so the goal is to reduce the use of plastic straws, as well as the litter associated with them.
Many visitors get tempted to feed the birds, but don’t do it. Not only can it get messy, “but it also impacts water quality and is bad for the birds.”
We hope you enjoy your time on our beautiful beaches and thank you for keeping it beachy clean!
Learn more at KeepItBeachyClean.org
