Friday, September 4, 2015

2015 Beach Sweep/River Sweep

The Town of Bluffton is proud to once again participate in the annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep on Saturday, September 19th.  Each year thousands of volunteers across the state will participate in the 27th 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. We invite volunteers to join us for coffee provided by Bluffton Starbucks before we kickoff, and then to stay following the event for a free lunch provided by the Hardeeville Wal-Mart (Store #2832). In an effort to make the Town’s cleanups as sustainable as possible, i2 Recycle will be recycling the suitable debris collected. Necessary supplies including gloves, bags, sunscreen, and water will be provided. This is made possible through donations by Palmetto Pride, Keep Beaufort County Beautiful, the Beaufort County Solid Waste & Recycling Division, The Outside Foundation, Adams Outdoor Advertising, the Bluffton Rotary, and Be Green Packaging.

If volunteers are interested in reserving a kayak, please call Marshgrass Adventures at 843-684-3296. Outside Hilton Head will be launching from Palmetto Bluff at 11:00AM. If interested in reserving a kayak from Outside Hilton Head, volunteers should contact them at 843-686-6997. Anyone with a boat or kayak is encouraged to bring it. Pedestrian volunteers will remove trash from parks and roadsides throughout Old Town to prevent litter from entering the May River

We invite individuals, families, friends, schools, youth groups, civic groups, conservation clubs and businesses to come out and participate. Last year in Bluffton approximately 80 volunteers removed 700 pounds of debris!

S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and S.C. Department of Natural Resources have organized this annual statewide 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.   


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