What Will You Find at This Year's Coastal Cleanup?
- Vero Minute
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Last year's Trashy Treasure Trophy winner was a one-pound "square grouper" of illegal drugs, hauled off Round Island and handed straight to the authorities. So, no pressure, but Indian River County: what have you got for us this time?
On Saturday, September 19, Coastal Connections returns for its fifth year running the International Coastal Cleanup across 25 waterfront sites countywide, and after last year's record haul of 4,064 pounds of debris and 43,043 individual pieces, they're not exactly aiming small.
Sign up here, then check in at your site between 8:30 and 9am, clean from 9 to 11, then roll straight into the After-Party and Awards at Walking Tree Brewery from 11:30 to 1:30, where a BOGO beer or free tea/soda is waiting for anyone who shows up with dirty hands and a full bag. Salvador Deli will be on-site for food, and there's live music, raffles, and vendors for the whole family.
Three titles are up for grabs: Green Team Spirit for the biggest crew, Trashiest Location for the highest pounds-per-person average, and the one everyone's really there for: the Trashy Treasure Trophy for the strangest thing anyone digs out of the sand. Hard plastics, cigarette butts, and microplastics will almost certainly top the list again. The wildcard is anyone's guess.
This is part of Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup, a 41-year-old global effort that has pulled more than 400 million pounds of trash from coastlines in over 100 countries. Indian River County keeps setting the pace. Come help break the record again, and let's see what turns up this time.
