Marsh Madness

Every year, Keep Golden Isles Beautiful coordinates “Marsh Madness” clean ups. These clean ups occur throughout the month of March along Georgia’s coastal marshes. Last month, my family and I participated in one under a highly commuted bridge connecting Brunswick with St Simons Island. This particular cleanup was led by a group of Glynn Academy National Honor Society students. The weather was very nice with a cool breeze and mild temperatures – perfect for picking up trash! We found a variety of trash including fishing line, plastic bags, plastic bottles, cigarette butts, and even a sign that had fallen of a vehicle. By the time we had finished, the place looked spotless!

For many years, I had been pushing for trash cans to be placed at our local boat ramps. I was thrilled to recently learn that the Satilla Riverkeeper had successfully put trash cans at several boat ramps along the Satilla River. However, we still need clean ups to keep our water ways clean, because litter builds up even in places where there are trash cans. This Marsh Madness cleanup site was next to a popular fishing pier on the Back River. Even though there were three large trash cans for people to use, we still found plenty of litter around this area.

It is vital to keep areas that have direct access to the ocean clean. People need to understand the impact of throwing each small piece of trash away. It might be one bottle, but if the whole world threw a bottle into the ocean, there would be nearly 8 billion bottles in the ocean. Your actions affect the environment more than you realize. Remember wherever you visit, be sure to store your food and gear properly and put your trash in its proper place – never in the water.

One little thing, when done again and again, can make a big difference!