Advocates want to clean up Florida’s dirty water now and in the future

Share
Hands Across the Sand against oil drilling
Hands Across the Sand on Gandy Beach - Credit: Samuel Johnson / WMNF News.

Environmentalists are focused on keeping Florida beaches clean and pristine; on Saturday more than a hundred people came together on Gandy Beach in St Petersburg for Hands Across the Sand. Residents, advocates and grassroots organizations were trying to raise awareness for a greener Florida environment.

Many of the participants came early to the beach on the south side of the Gandy Bridge to help pick up trash. Most beach-goers and onlookers didn’t seem to notice the event and didn’t join in the clean up. Thomas Paterek, chair of the local Suncoast Surf Riders Foundation, said the strange array of garbage can make enjoying the water a challenge.

The windy conditions on the beach didn’t mask the hot Florida sun or the slightly murky blue-green water. Pat dePlasco of the grassroots organization, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, said stopping an often overlooked source of pollution is a good first step.

At noon, after the beach clean up, more than a hundred people lined the shoreline holding hands.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Governor DeSantis touts state immigration enforcement at Tampa press conference

Listen: Governor Ron DeSantis is touting the state’s partnership with...

The Scoop: Mon. May 12, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

St. Petersburg celebrating three bills passed by Florida senate, Starbucks...

Check out the images from one of the hottest Tropical Heatwave shows ever!

Photos of Chuck Prophet, Skating Polly, Sue Foley, Zach Person...

Heavy rains continue with floods possible

Rainfall totals will range between 2 and 4 inches. However,...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

The Morning Show Tuesday
The Morning Show Tuesday