Volunteers and non-profit Keep Pinellas Beautiful join forces to clean up Gandy Beach
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Caulin Donaldson was born and raised in St. Pete.
Not only has he enjoyed going to all the beautiful beaches the Bay Area offers, but he's also welcomed visitors while working on them.
"Having tourists come out and be like, 'this is my favorite place in the world. I love bringing my family here and then watching them leave all their trash in the sand as they head home. It's never really made sense to me," Donaldson said. "A lot of people come here to visit and enjoy our beaches and then end up leaving some things behind when they go home."
So, he started picking up after them, and it's been his passion for as long as he can remember.
He joined dozens of volunteers who came from far and near to help the non-profit organization Keep Pinellas Beautiful clean up Gandy Beach.
A popular spot to hang in the sun and set up camp for the day, loose litter such as cans, bottles, and plastic bags can be seen strewn across the mangroves and along the shoreline and builds up faster than you think.
Keep Pinellas Beautiful's executive director Pat Deplasco says out of all the beaches they clean, Gandy is where they find the most waste.
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"We average 500 pounds of debris that we can clean out of this area weekly," Deplasco explained. "People need to remember, whatever they bring in, they have to bring out."
While alarming, Pat stressed that seeing so many people helping to keep our beaches clean is comforting.
"Our vision at Keep Pinellas Beautiful is to create a culture of environmentally responsible citizens, so when you see this many people, it gives me goosebumps because you think, wow, it's really working," Pat said.
To join a beach clean up or learn more about Keep Pinellas Beautiful's campaign, click here.