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Um, excuse me ? No trash whatsoever ? I take a bucket with me every time I beachcomb in Indian River County, and have no problem filling it with trash, especially when the seaweed is on shore. Some of it is left behind by tourists (cups, cans, straws, even dirty diapers occasionally) and some of it floats ashore. I almost ALWAYS find at least one deflated helium balloon, with strings. These are especially harmful to wildlife. The small bits of plastic are bad too, and the plastic bags. Turtles mistake them for food. Trust me, our beaches are NOT impeccable, and if you think they are, you haven't actually been to one for a while. I am not saying they are filled with trash, but to portray them as trash-free is not correct either.
I guess I should have qualified my answer. I only go to beaches north of Sea Grape. I'm not into the more touristy "town" beaches.
RunsWithScissors : You really do need to get a job with the Chamber of Commerce. You certainly must have a LOT of free time on your hands, taking photos of bathrooms (how does this relate to trash ON THE BEACH?). I guess according to you I have been picking up imaginary trash all these months. I am NOT making up finding trash. IT IS THERE. On the beach. I am not saying it is EVERYWHERE, but if you do not see ANY trash on the beach then you are choosing to ignore it. Your snide comments are arrogant and mean ("Sorry I'm still laughing at the visual of the beach contractors saying "Wait, don't start yet till that lady is finished cleaning up ahead."). I would post photos of my buckets full of trash but you would probably accuse me of finding the trash somewhere else. Oh, and I am NOT referring to the wrack as trash. I am talking about human-made trash. Man, I would hate to have to deal with you in everyday life. You can be VERY mean-spirited.
Another photo, taken earlier this month (the first one was from May). I am holding balloons found on the beach, and ropes that washed in. The carrier I have is also full of trash.
And by the way, RunsWithScissors, I have NEVER seen a public employee picking up trash on the beach. Emptying the wastecans, yes, but not picking up trash from the sand.
I would love it if you were right and our beaches had no trash. What a perfect world you must live in !
Last August, when we stayed at the Holiday Inn on the beach, we saw the workers out ea.ch morning picking up the trash on the beach. This year, in January, we were at the beach at Humiston Park and noticed how much garbage was left on the beach at the end of the day that the life guards were picking up. What is wrong with people? That is so nice of you to pick up that trash SeaLark. Which beach was that picture from? We are always amazed at how the beaches in Vero have never been overcrowded on any of our visits.
Thank you for your kind words, Boxermama. I pick up the trash to help the beach and marine animals; they can die from ingesting plastic, or can get caught in fishing line and rope. It is so sad to see a pelican crippled by a fish hook or line. It is nice to know that the Holiday Inn workers pick up the trash on the beach by their hotel. I have never seen a lifeguard do that at the end of the day - though I don't think I have ever been at Humiston in late afternoon. When I have seen them leave at South Beach or Round Island, they just, well, leave. I have seen state park officials on the beach at Ft Pierce Inlet State Park who walk right past trash. I guess it depends on the individual worker, and how committed they are to their work environment. The photos above are from the Round Island beach area. I was at the beach by Ocean Grill yesterday and while there was some trash it was not nearly as bad as during high season. Not all the trash is from local tourists; some of it is washed in with the seaweed. I find helium balloons frequently; these can come from inland, drift out to the ocean, then wash ashore. The colorful latex of the balloon can be harmful if an animal or bird mistakes it for food, and the strings can entangle animals too.
Another photo, taken earlier this month (the first one was from May). I am holding balloons found on the beach, and ropes that washed in. The carrier I have is also full of trash.
And by the way, RunsWithScissors, I have NEVER seen a public employee picking up trash on the beach. Emptying the wastecans, yes, but not picking up trash from the sand.
I would love it if you were right and our beaches had no trash. What a perfect world you must live in !
Maybe it would help to be familiar with the municipality policies.
Instead of preaching to the choir of people who have lived here half a century and actually KNOW how beaches work. I find it very ODD that you spend all this time hand cleaning beaches yet never yet mentioned the ACTUAL policy and posted clean up signs.
Why aren't you going to the board meetings and contacting the department heads etc if you claim the county and city aren't doing their jobs? Why aren't you giving THEIR side of the story? If you're so ~involved in the community?
Beach Cleaning Schedule is 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM Monday through Sat.
November 1 through April 30 beach is raked and trash removed.
May 1 through October 30 only trash is removed no raking done, because of the turtles.
I never said our beaches don't have trash. You started out complaining about stuff washing up on shore then claim nobody cleans the beaches. In fact you're still talking about stuff washing UP which really has NOTHING to do with the topic of beach maintenance.
I said they are IMPECCABLE and there is MAINTENANCE. I stand by that opinion. Of COURSE there is going to be stuff washing on shore with the tides and OF COURSE human beings are going to leave SOME STUFF behind.
For me, there's context and balance.
I actually take your comment about Chamber of Commerce as a compliment. We ALL should be promoting our area. Not posting disparaging hyperbolic things on the internet that show up HIGH ON GOOGLE on City Data every time someone does a search. IMO we ought to think before making generalizations about our own community. I'd say it's mean spirited to make allegations and postings praising OURSELVES as individuals instead of a BALANCED view of our community's REALITY
Yes, I own my own SERVICE business and make my own schedule. Maybe if more people actually OWNED a business that depends on quality people moving to their area they'd be more careful with careless characterizations. We don't have the most retired CEOS in the country moving here because we don't take care of our beaches or any OTHER services lacking. In fact I've been staring at the ground all day long in my car since this nonsense started and I never even see trash on the STREETS. Not like when I lived in JAcksonville and couldn't even safely walk dogs without them finding chicken bones EVERYWHERE. I have no idea why that is but it's a weird thing around downtown up there.
TODAY I went BACK to Ocean Grille then to South Beach and AGAIN not a SPECK OF TRASH. In fact, there's a TRASH BAG station where people get bags to clean up on that photo above with the TRASH schedule.
It was CROWDED in the lot but not on the beach. 10:45 almost high tide.
I won't bother posting other pictures since some people only see what they want to see.
Whatever floats your boat.
Speaking of boats, Round Island has a boat launch and if you read the 2 pages of current glowing TripAdvisor reviews, you'll see not a SINGLE MENTION of trash or any other "problems".
Which is surprising since the REMOTE unbusy Round Island is the VERY MOST SOUTHERN TIP of the county on the St Lucie county line so CLOSE to Ft Pierce.
I'm sorry it eluded you that I posted those non beach pictures to show you that at the very start of the day, everything is SPOTLESS here. INCLUDING bathrooms which are usually the first sign of people being rude and making messes.
For MOST people "going to the beach" entails more than just the sand and seaweed.
I also stand by my claim that people from the middle of the country with very little experience living on the OCEAN have no idea what DIRTY BEACHES really look like.
I'm still laughing that you claim a coupla buckets of debris and two small ropes equals a trashy beach. BALLOONS? Gurl balloons on beaches is as old as balloons themselves. Did you really give another lecture on how balloons get on the beach? From "inland"? Yes most likely since you don't see lots of humans out on the ocean releasing balloons.
If you want to complain about the human race and "ecology" be my guest and I'm sure there's a forum for that here somewhere.
But to claim that our beaches are a big mess and not maintained is just ridiculous hyperbole and not helpful to ANYONE but ...well, except YOU.
"Jens Tripson, first vice president of the Pelican Island Audubon Society, organized the Round Island Beach cleanup and registered about 16 residents there.
"We found a total of 370 pounds of trash," Tripson said about Round Island. "I was really surprised at how clean our beach was."
Tripson, who has organized the cleanup events in Vero Beach since 1989, said about 80 local residents showed up to Golden Sands beach near the North Wabasso Causeway, and more than 100 picked up trash at South Beach.
During past cleanups, Tripson said he has collected refrigerators, stoves, rafts, nets, propane tanks and medical waste."
At one popular beach, there were NO cars but mine. At one of the treasure beaches, there was only one other car. So not only are beach conditions poor, but there isn't even much of anybody out there to lose anything.
I did dig a few things. The first thing was a key. I hate to find keys, You know somebody could have been very inconvenienced by the loss, but here is usually no way to find and return lot keys.
Here are some other beach photos from three separate beaches to give you a good idea of what it is like out there. Photos were taken this morning just after low tide.
I saw one sea turtle leaving the beach this morning.
Expect more of the same on the Treasure Coast well into next week.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 06-24-2015 at 02:34 PM..
Oh good heavens, you really need to get a life, Runswithscissors. Do you really have nothing better to do than spend HOURS looking up web sites, taking photos, and lecturing to people on this forum ? I NEVER said our beaches are a "big mess". You certainly put words in other people's mouths, for being so picky about people quoting you. I am frequently on the beach at the hours indicated for cleaning and have NEVER, in two years, seen a city worker picking up trash. But OK, you win. There is NEVER a SINGLE piece of TRASH on ANY beach in Vero. All the trash I see is imaginary and I am making it up just to irritate you. Happy now ? I stand by my opinion that you are mean-spirited and arrogant, and find fun in mocking me for caring about the environment. I am just so very glad I do not have to deal with you in real life, because people like you are annoying beyond belief (and I am not the only person who feels this way, I am sure). Don't bother replying with another long lecture or snide remarks. I am done with you. Find somebody else to heckle and lecture. I will keep collecting the "imaginary" trash while I beachcomb, and feeling sorry for people with so much meanness in them.
As someone who sits opposite of RWS on many things, lemme say that I THINK their heart is in the right place, but that they are the "overly defensive" type of individual especially if like FLALDYB etc. have commercial interest in this area and the respective discussions of the place, so like everything else in life from politics to researching a new area to move to, follow the money and you'll find the motive behind the curtains. This is not to say that their information is in any way a lie or wrong,just that it has a slight spin on it, and they might not even know they are doing it.
one has to take everything from all sources and reach their own conclusion, like I realize there is mediocre to bad schools, few jobs and a level of unsavoriness left behind by the crash still present in st lucie, but the location, price, access to fishing/water sports my family enjoys outweighs those items.
Point being in threads like this, there is no right and no wrong, there is dirt on the beaches, but there is also set schedules/policies for cleanup and if BOTH sides presented evidence is correct, then great strides are occurring, because I remember the beaches of Jacksonville growing up and they would be trashed after only a day or two of not being raked.
Now with PSL/VERO area, a lot of trash not just from across the pond but from Miami and points nortward could easily make its way because of the curvature/direction of the gulf stream, add in the excellent fisheries of Ft pierce/st lucie inlets and you can see that it would be a dauntless and neigh impossible task to keep them spotless.
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Yes most likely since you don't see lots of humans out on the ocean releasing balloons. 
