One hour a week makes a huge difference, and volunteers are always welcome every Friday and some Saturday mornings, from 8 to 9 a.m., when teams clean up a designated area of the island.
A troubling number of cigarette butts and plastic bags have been included in recent hauls. Please remember your reusable bags when shopping so we can keep the plastic off the streets, parking lots and, most importantly, out of the water. And dispose of cigarette butts in any receptacle rather than the street or sidewalk, as from there, they easily end up in the ocean.
The city of Key West and its residents ask everyone to do their part to help keep Key West beautiful. With simple steps like making sure you bag your trash before putting it in your Waste Management trash cans or Dumpsters, and making sure the lids on Dumpsters are closed, will keep a lot of trash from blowing into the streets. Call Waste Management at 305-296-8297 for any furniture items left on the city right of way.
The Ploggers met June 17 at the corner of George Street and Flagler Avenue, where 10 volunteers, including a visitor from New York, collected 41.5 pounds of trash, 14 pounds of recycling and 1 gallon of cigarette butts in one hour. CONTRIBUTED
Please pick up around your home or apartment complex. Every piece of trash picked up is one less that may end up in the ocean that surrounds and sustains our island community. It is not just the large items you can see easily when you are walking, but the smaller items such as bottle caps and cigarette butts that are collected by the volunteers that make the biggest difference.
Special thanks this week to Sarah Dolson from Keller Williams Key West Compass Realty for organizing her office’s adopt-a-spot to keep clean in the city.
It takes committed community involvement to Keep Key West Beautiful and we are making progress with every cleanup event and every spot that’s adopted.
Please call Dorian at the city of Key West at 305-809-3782 to know more about how your business, nonprofit or club can help.
All are invited to join the Friday morning cleanups from 8 to 9 a.m. Parking is provided and all volunteers receive a parking pass when needed for metered or residential parking spots. See the calendar here for Friday cleanup locations.
Upcoming Friday cleanups; all events are 8 to 9 a.m.:
Friday, June 24: Duval and Eaton streets
Friday, July 1: Duval and Virginia streets (meet at Flamingo Crossing)
Friday, July 8: Smathers Beach Bridle Path (meet at Dumpster on the path)
Friday, July 15: Mallory Square (meet in the parking lot.)
Friday, July 22: Green & Elizabeth streets (meet at city parking lot across the street.)
Friday, July 29: Little Hamaca Park (Meet at Government Road big curve.)
— Dorian Patton, city of Key West
