Beach maintenance crews removed 662.19 tons of garbage from approximately 200 garbage collection stations on the beach and bay in 2021. That’s the equivalent of 117,177 individual bags of trash! An additional 27,868 Leave No Trace items were also removed from South Walton beaches. These items often include beach chairs, umbrellas, towels and other beach gear. In 2021, South Walton High School student Hannah Smith started a new pilot beach basket program. With help from Beach Operations, six baskets now hang at the Grayton Beach public beach access near the trash collection area. Beach goers are encouraged to grab a basket and use it to pick up trash, dispose of it in the nearby bins and return the basket when they are done. The program will run until May 2022, when the success of the program will be evaluated. If the program is successful, it might have a future at other South Walton beach accesses.
