Marco Kicks Off 25th Anniversary with Beach Cleanup

On August 22nd, islanders kicked off the celebration of its 25th Anniversary as a City with an early morning beach cleanup sponsored by Marco Island Civic Association. Commonly known as MICA, it is one of the oldest and largest associations of its kind in the State of Florida with a mission to promote and advance the principles of civic improvement and betterment on Marco Island.

Thanks to the JW Marriott for hosting the water, pastry and iced coffee bar at the end of the beach cleanup. The Marriott Resort has been part of the fabric and history of the Island for years and has hosted quarterly beach cleanups for the last three years. They also helped initiate the transition from the use of single use plastic straws to biodegradable drinking straws on Marco’s beach.

Marco Island Water Sports has been another icon on the beach since 1980 with Mark Bahr and now his son, Brandon, carrying on the legacy of the Bahr Family providing beach services for the community.

Too often we say – “life's a beach” but for the residents of Marco Island and to the hundreds of beach cleanup volunteers, it is more like “Life is a Clean Beach.” 

More than 30 volunteers gathered at South Beach and for one and a half hours, filling their buckets and bags and picking up 40 pounds of trash. There was everything from balloon pieces, plastic bottles, caps, wrappers, straws, foam pieces, flip flops, cigarette butts, pieces of wood with nails and discarded monofilament lines with hooks. All were removed from the beach making sure these items did NOT end up in the Gulf of Mexico endangering marine life.

Plastic was the bulk of the trash picked up on Marco’s beach and according to Ocean Conservancy’s TIDES Database, about 60% of beach litter worldwide is plastic. It is well documented by researchers and marine scientists that plastic is hazardous to marine life.

We also tend to forget the economic benefits of beach cleanups. Marco’s beach is a top tourist destination and many jobs are created through tourism. Visitors have rated our beach among the top beaches visited and nobody wants to visit a polluted beach. Trashy beaches hurt the local economy.

You also learn so much during a beach cleanup. Seeing photos of plastic straws or bottle caps is not the same as picking them up from a beach – you instantly think of the impact of the plastic item you just picked up and you will often hear volunteers say, “how can people just leave their trash on the beach.”

Every little bit helps - kudos to all our daily beach walkers such as Alby Golden, Francine Kline, Kathy Eil and many more Marcoites as they carry a collection bag and pick up whatever they can.