Crap on the beach

Again, I think trying to educate people as to what is/what is not acceptable would go a long way.

While it would be a massive printing project, the TDC could place flyers in every single rental unit in the county outlining beach do's and dont's.

OR the owners and rental agencies could take the initiative and do something similar.

Either way, I agree with all on this issue. It's a big problem that is getting worse.

imo, a more pragmatic approach would be to place notice at beach entrances.

imo, a more pragmatic approach would be to place notice at beach entrances.

True. But I think they would go largely unread, plus the folks who stay gulf front would use their own private walkway.

I think the rental agencies could go a long way toward solving this problem. Of course, they would have to give a damn first, which they don't.

Maybe the state and/or the county needs to adopt the old "Leave only footprints" campaign from the 1970's.

I agree that signs and flyers alone won't do it. It will take a few years of enforcement for it to become accepted fact that it is not allowed. Once all the rental agencies and owners know it as a fact it will get passed on to renters in a few different ways.

I like the idea of notices left for a "warning" on the articles themselves, at least for the 1st year or 2 of enforcement, before items are removed by patrols. Items removed by officials, or "donated" to a private group will leave a very bad taste in visitor's mouths that the TDC is not going to do without pressure. Paying patrols to remove items would also take away from advertising capiital which is hard to make happen.

The good news is that Rosemary Beach, WaterColor, WaterSound, etc. have signs up AND they enforce the rules on their beaches. As our beaches get more and more popular, people will have easier access to beach services instead of worrying about bringing or buying their own stuff. The problem is that items have gotten cheaper to buy, use a week, and throw away than to rent.

Now I know why I feel so smug when I go to the beach and take a towel or sheet, a container of frozen water and nothing else.
(I refuse to buy bottled water because it just adds more plastic to the landfills and tap water is no less healthy.)

Watching tourists take 50 pounds of junk to the beach is always good for a laugh. When they're too lazy to pack it up daily, I think that "liberating" the structures is justified.

When I was growing up and one trekked to Seagrove it usually meant a quarter mile or more slog through the sand dunes. In August that could be brutal. Especially if your car got stuck in the dirt roads. I guess we knew even then it couldn't last forever.

Seems like every year that passes this situation just gets worse.

My idea would be for the commissioners to pass an law that says "everything that is left unattended on the beach after 8pm is FREE for the TAKING"...stick that on a flyer and put it in the rentals--PROBLEM SOLVED!

It is free for the taking after dark. I do not think we need another law. The people just need to start seeing the stuff go bye bye!

Are you talking about the beach services? I see beach chairs and umbrellas up all the time by the beach rental set up companies in off season. Seems if this is the law, the people who do business in the area should be fined and accounted for who leave their goods on the beach at night as well.

In LBI- a barrier island off the Jersey shore, they pay for beach raking every day. Anything left on the beach gets disposed of and carted away early in the am.

"I wasn't lost, I just didn't know where I was for a few weeks. What I had lost (at least for a while) was my appetite for the life I had left: city surroundings, old friends, familiar comforts. It had occurred to me that comfort was only a disguise for what will always change." -- Gretel Ehrlich - The Solace of Open Spaces

-love that quote sj-

crazy about that quote, gretel comes to mountainfilm every year. she's a great lady.

Are you talking about the beach services? I see beach chairs and umbrellas up all the time by the beach rental set up companies in off season. Seems if this is the law, the people who do business in the area should be fined and accounted for who leave their goods on the beach at night as well.

In LBI- a barrier island off the Jersey shore, they pay for beach raking every day. Anything left on the beach gets disposed of and carted away early in the am.

The beach service companies do not leave items out overnight. Beach raking is not believed to be an environmentally sound practice.

The beach service companies do not leave items out overnight. Beach raking is not believed to be an environmentally sound practice.

Not entirely true Kurt. I have been on the beach at 10-11 pm many times during off season and chairs and umbrellas are still there in my neck of the beach. Not to mention kayaks and other beach paraphenalia under the beach walk overs.

Was not aware of the effects of beach raking, but I suppose recreational vehicles, sea walls etc. have no effect? ;-)
Sand raking effects on barier islands require more investigation on my part, but it is only done a couple days of the week, and 8 weeks of the year. The area where it is done is only where people go on the beach. The rest of the area is protected pine barrens and a dedicated widlife reserve that is oceanfront and on the bay.

There is no need to rake the beach here, but we could use the guys who clean up the crap, eg - chairs, tents, umbrellas, towels, coolers, toys, etc.

Jfunn and I furnished our Mexican Hideaway porch at Patrone's with stuff people left on the beach in Seagrove overnight. So if you have chairs that went missing in 01'...we stole them. And used them all summer.

It is free for the taking after dark. I do not think we need another law. The people just need to start seeing the stuff go bye bye!

I believe this is the only way to stop people from leaving their junk on the beach, what better education for these idiots. I have never seen beach junk left on the beaches in J'ville, St George, etc. I wonder how they control this problem? Our problem is only getting worse and I also saw that huge hole Kurt referenced and they were using it to STORE their beach stuff!! This is just plain ridiculous.

my beach cleaner design is coming along quite nicely - can be set to only get surface stuff like cig butts and the like (leaving everything else behind for beach building) or go up to 2 1/2" deep for buried bottles and punji sticks - the big problem to overcome is how do you know what's seaweed, sticks and shells (leave behind) or fireworks parts, used condoms and bird poop (take away) - everything else is about height and weight and is working ok

you will still need a gang of workers to load the busted tents, coolers, etc onto the truck that the beach cleaner is dragging behind so you can even go down the beach to clean it - i suppose i could move it up front on the truck and make it like a snowplow!

The beach service companies do not leave items out overnight. Beach raking is not believed to be an environmentally sound practice.

At the condos where the beach service people are on property, they indeed gather up all the chairs and umbrellas each evening.

But I have seen countless beach setups in areas where there are homes along the beach where the chairs/umbrellas stay there for days on end. When a renter contracts with a beach service company, I'm pretty sure they set the items up the day of your arrival, and the items stay there until you leave.

This doesn't bother me too much as long as the people using the setups remove their personal effects and trash at the end of each day.

I believe this is the only way to stop people from leaving their junk on the beach, what better education for these idiots. I have never seen beach junk left on the beaches in J'ville, St George, etc. I wonder how they control this problem? Our problem is only getting worse and I also saw that huge hole Kurt referenced and they were using it to STORE their beach stuff!! This is just plain ridiculous.

i know how they control it in jacksonville it's called bums. if you leave your stuff out there then it's free for the taking. i had a friend that went surfing and left his t shirt on the beach and when he came up he couldn't find it. the next day we went to a little beach bar on the board walk where a lot of the homeless people hang out and some guy was wearing his shirt

i know how they control it in jacksonville it's called bums. if you leave your stuff out there then it's free for the taking. i had a friend that went surfing and left his t shirt on the beach and when he came up he couldn't find it. the next day we went to a little beach bar on the board walk where a lot of the homeless people hang out and some guy was wearing his shirt

Ah.... a new definition for "Beach Bum"!

.

As far as educating visitors goes...you can try, but you would not believe the letters that OFTEN come back with beach safety citations, and I KNOW that most of our accommodations post info on the beach safety program, or at least have flyers prominently displayed.

Most of the letter-writers are so outraged and indignant that it is actually :funn: ...but one such dodo actually called out the deputy in the Walton Sun a couple of weeks ago...and two have actually tried to contest it with the judge . They all say they didn't know.

There are folks who honestly believe that if they have spent $$$$ for a week here, they have the right to do as they please, the heck with everybody else. Even if it trashes our beach, or could possibly cost them their lives.

Recently, I was pm'd and informed that it was not against County Code to leave crap, ie- canopies, on the beach over night. I replied that they are considered to be camping equipment according to WalCo Code of Ordinances.

THere is the some of the information upon which I base my interpretation of the law. According to WalCo Code, here is the definition of Camping:

Camping means the erection of shelter or a similar structure for the purpose of sleeping; or sleeping or lying upon the beach either under or outside of any shelter, vehicle, bedroll, blanket, or other protective garb.

and here is the ordinance:
ARTICLE IV. REGULATION OF RECREATIONAL BEACH AND WATER ACTIVITIES*
Sec. 22-54. Regulation of use and conduct on the beach and water bodies. (a) Overnight camping. It shall be unlawful to camp overnight on the beach.


any questions?

We walked on the beach late Saturday night and in front of our house in Seagrove there was S&#T! everywhere. Chairs, tents, volleyball nets and all sorts of items. I have never seen it so bad. I started to pick up what I could and haul off to the dumpster.

Can we not put up signs on the beach that states..."If you leave your crap on the beach it will be gone by morning!" ?

I went to our condos Sunday and wrote in our book to be sure and not leave any items on the beach overnight.

Any suggestions?

i know how they control it in jacksonville it's called bums. if you leave your stuff out there then it's free for the taking. i had a friend that went surfing and left his t shirt on the beach and when he came up he couldn't find it. the next day we went to a little beach bar on the board walk where a lot of the homeless people hang out and some guy was wearing his shirt

Whatever works!! Beach Bums for hire!! The folks who leave stuff on the beach overnight have to receive hefty fines and have their names in the paper or else they will not stop this bad behavior!

Anothe wonder. If all this junk is removed and placed at the beach access trash area's then the county/our taxes would have to pay to haul the stuff away. Then we have the counties attention and they finally do something to improve this messy problem.

Here is my warning again to all of you who may not know about it. Leave your crap on the beach overnight, and it may be gone when you come back the next day. If I don't take it, the storms may. This morning while kayaking in the Gulf, I collected floating bottles, a play tug boat,a boogy board and two beach chairs, and can you believe the owners were screaming at me that the chairs belonged to them, though they wouldn't come in the water to get them because they didn't like the seaweed? It didn't make for too exciting of a kayak experience this morning. I made them promise to take their crap off the beach everyday in exchange for the chairs. There were tents in the water this morning, crumbled tent frames and tops on the beach, etc. It really sucks that some people do not have the courtesy to remove their crap daily.

Warning: You can take it off the beach, or I will. I am tired of it. Now get a move on before I decide to open a can of whoop-@ss on you rude, inconsiderate people.

Saturday morning we took a walk and retrieved a chair, beach bag and tent from the water. We were dragging the tent frame and top from the water when these people walked up and said, "ooh, we think this tent is ours."
They didn't even thank us or offer to help drag it out.

Anothe wonder. If all this junk is removed and placed at the beach access trash area's then the county/our taxes would have to pay to haul the stuff away. Then we have the counties attention and they finally do something to improve this messy problem.

You could do a beach cleanup every morning at dawn.

Last year when Cindy was approaching I remember gathering a lot of stuff, mostly trash, and lashing it all together so it wouldn't end up in the water or buried or scattered.

From another thread:


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sueshore
Hi Brad and congrats! I have a question for SJ...what can be done about all the ugly stuff left overnight on the beautiful beaches?

Great question and I will answer you in two parts. First, the enforcement of County ordinances regarding the beach can only be initiated by three agencies/people in Walton County: the Sheriff?s Department, Code Enforcement and Leslie Campbell, Beach Activities Coordinator. Of these three, Leslie Campbell is the person directly responsible and would be the best person to approach regarding the tents, umbrellas and chairs left/abandoned on the beach. She is currently working on a program on how to best address these problems and is VERY AWARE of the current situation. Her contact information is camleslie@co.walton.fl.us and her phone number is (850) 267-1853.



As for the TDC, we have placed over 400 trash receptacles along the beach that we service daily, and have recently ordered 50 more. They are emptied 7 days a week starting around 6 am. It currently takes 4-5 trucks about 8 hours to empty all of them. We do not remove tents, umbrellas, or chairs from the beach unless they are leaning against, or directly beside our trash receptacles. If items are adjacent to our trash receptacles, then they are considered trash and removed. Any other items are funneled through Leslie. Once an item is removed by us it is typically destroyed because we do not have the ability in our trash removal process to separate the good from the bad.



I hope this helps in directing those who are interested in providing a contact and also providing some additional information.

Time to begin writing some emails. Let's get it started.