Tuesday, September 9, 2014

26th Annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep - September 20, 2014 - 9 AM to 11:30 AM

The Town of Bluffton is proud to once again participate in the annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep on Saturday, September 20th.  Each year thousands of volunteers across the state will participate in the 26th Annual Sweep, which is South Carolina’s largest one-day, volunteer, litter clean-up of beaches, marshes and waterways.

The Sweep will take place from 9 AM to 11:30 AM at the Oyster Factory Park at the end of Wharf Street. All necessary supplies are provided by our local Hardeeville Walmart Store #2832, Palmetto Pride, Beaufort County Recycles, and others. Anyone with a boat or kayak is encouraged to bring it. Everyone else will remove trash from parks and roadsides throughout Old Town to prevent litter from entering the May River.

We welcome all individuals, families, friends, schools, youth groups, civic groups, conservation clubs and businesses. Last year in Bluffton 100 volunteers removed 700 pounds of debris!

S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and S.C. Department of Natural Resources have organized this annual event since 1988. The Sweep takes place in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup, coordinated by the Ocean Conservancy. Once the Sweep is over, the Ocean Conservancy tallies all of the debris data. This data helps us to learn the sources of litter to stop pollution before it starts.