On Saturday December 20, MAR hosted their first event that is part of the Tide Together Beach Cleanup series at Fort De Soto. We began our morning with an hour-long yoga flow led by Brice Peoples of SunState Yoga with views of the Gulf and a cool morning breeze. After yoga, volunteers set out to Fort De Soto’s North Beach and removed 29 pounds of trash! Most of the trash we found were small pieces and the most common items found were plastic silverware, bottle caps, and food packaging.
As we learned from our cleanup on International Coastal Cleanup Day back in September, it is not all about the weight of the trash removed. Removing the smaller pieces of trash from the beach now helps prevent them from breaking into more smaller pieces later. Those smaller pieces are more difficult to remove because they can become more intertwined with the ecosystem. While it may not always feel as fulfilling to come back with a smaller volume of trash, we are protecting our coastlines in meaningful ways.
During this holiday season and the end of the year, it is important now more than ever to take care of ourselves. This cleanup was intended to be an opportunity for the community to gather and to connect with nature. In order to nurture the planet, we must also nurture ourselves. Practicing yoga and taking intentional time for grounding is one way to slow down and give back to ourselves. Through this yoga and cleanup event, we hope that our volunteers enjoyed this time to take care of themselves and the planet.
We will be continuing this series in the new year, so please stay tuned for to our upcoming events!
Event Photos
