A large group of volunteers got together on a recent Saturday morning to help clean the beaches of Hollywood. They found a wide variety of garbage items including an old air conditioning unit. The most common items found were cigarette butts, bottles and discarded plastic containers.
The International Coastal Cleanup on Sept. 15 was a national and international event which took place at beaches around the world and in Hollywood.
Stephanie Kedzuf, a natural resources specialist for Broward County led an effort to clean the northern section of Hollywood Beach. “We picked up a lot of garbage and plastic on the beach. We believe it is important to keep the beaches clean,” said Kezuf.
Austin Freeman, a volunteer with the beach cleaning effort said he wants to help care for the beaches and prevent plastic and garbage from getting into the ocean. “I found a lot of plastic on the beach. There are a lot of plastic garbage items on the beach. I want to prevent it from getting into the ocean,” he said.
The volunteers picked up a huge amount of garbage. They hope to keep the beaches clean from trash and they want to keep garbage from getting into the ocean. Many are concerned about protecting sea turtles and the devastation of coral reefs. They are especially concerned about the effect that plastic garbage is having on ocean life.
