The City of Folly Beach, along with volunteers from the Charleston Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation and the Southern South Carolina District of the Eastern Surfing Association, installed degradable mutt mitt dispensers at several key beach accesses, parks and visitor spots on the island. A new file, which you can view through the Yahoo! Groups site, gives a more detailed description of the locations.
The mutt mitt dispensers are part of the ongoing efforts by the City of Folly Beach to keep the beaches, marshes and entire island cleaner.
The initiative was made possible by a grant from the City of Folly Beach to the Charleston Surfrider Chapter and the Eastern Surfing Association. Volunteers will install and maintain the dispensers. Thanks!
The Charleston Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is sponsoring a Beach Access Stewardship Program on the Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island and Folly Beach. We are organizing volunteers for the beach accesses of their choice and they are tasked with three things:
- pick up trash along the access paths and out on the beach itself whenever they visit
- provide the municipality with any maintenance needs for the walkways or parking areas
- provide the Chapter and/or the municipality with maintenance information for things such as pet waste bag dispensers, cigarette butt buckets, and/or access blockages which need to be addressed.
This program was created to provide not only Surfrider members, but anyone who wants to volunteer, an opportunity to get involved with keeping our beaches clean and safe. We recognize that not only are our beaches some of our greatest local natural resources, but also the chief economic draw for our area.
Our goal is to have at least one volunteer or volunteer group “assigned” to each major public access path. If several individuals choose the same path that is also fine. We also welcome school organizations, hobby groups (kite sailors, board sailors, biking clubs, etc.), or families that visits frequently or live nearby.
The City of Folly Beach elected to team up with the Charleston Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation to aid the Chapter in the upcoming 07-08 campaign against cigarette butt litter on Folly Beach. The program is part of an area-wide effort initiated by Surfrider to directly address the accumulation of cigarette butts in our area beaches and marshes.
The kick off took place during Spring Break 07 when personal ashtrays were distributed throughout the area and Cigarette Cannons were installed at all of the public access walkways along Folly Beach. A special thank you to Keith Merril for leading this important campaign!
Similar efforts have been initiated on the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. Addressing the accumulation of cigarette butt litter directly benefits our area municipalities by inhibiting the huge amount of cigarette butts that ultimately pile up in storm water runoff . According to beach municipalities, the renewal of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permits is much more difficult for area beaches if this problem is not addressed.
City of Folly Beach Degradable Mutt Mitt Dispensers Installed
Butts Out! Program
Surfrider Beach Access Stewardship Program
The Charleston Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation prides itself in actively taking part in the conservation of our area beaches. Our members understand the impact their actions take on sustaining the environment.
If there are any initiatives you would like to suggest, we would appreciate our input!
BEACH SWEEPS
The easiest way for anybody to get involved with Surfrider and help preserve our wonderful coastline is to take part in our beach sweeps on Folly and Sullivans Island. Click here to see our schedules.
