Brandon Scrambling, an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, works to find debris during the Lake County Coastal Cleanup on Sept. 21. The event is now in its fourth year.
Plastic trash and empty beer bottles were just some of the things that made up the piles of trash collected during the Lake County Waterways Cleanup in Tavares on Sept. 21.
To keep the waterways and shorelines free of debris, the City of Tavares and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission joined forces to continue the cleanup event for its fourth year.
“We do it on this day every year because it is International Coastal Cleanup Day,” said Nick Trippel, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Volunteers lined Wooton Park’s West Boat Ramp with garbage bags, buckets and trash grabbers — collecting trash from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For the last three years, volunteers grouped together to travel along the Harris Chain for the cleanup.
“We are up to 13,000 pounds in collected trash from volunteers over the years,” Trippel said. “We’ve seen high school students, little kids, retirees, just people from all different walks of life come out to support the event and keep the waterways clean.”
While some volunteers rode the Harris Chain to clean, others drove their cars or walked to clean the shoreline.
Lorraine Tighe, a resident of Umatilla and Tavares city employee, joined the cleaning efforts focusing on the shoreline and land surrounding it.
“It’s amazing how much trash there can be on the ground even though there is a trash can right there,” Tighe said as she cleaned trash hidden in the sands at the outside volleyball court.
She added that the work to keep the waters clean is essential.
“It’s so nice to see the lake clear. I walk this park on my lunch break and sometimes when I see trash in it, I want to go get it,” Tighe said. “But I can’t go back to work with lake water on me.”
The cleanup effort was also supported by Adventure Outdoor Paddle, which provides guided kayak and paddle board eco tours through the Dora Canal. They provided canoes to volunteers.
Business owner Katrina Aho said the canoe paddlers play a key role in the event because they can fit into the tight spaces a bigger boat couldn’t.
“There is a lot of trash and debris coming from restaurants that slides down and ends up tangled in the shoreline,” Aho said. “We encourage paddlers to follow the coastline to get that trash because they can fit in the space to reach that trash that got caught.”
Tavares resident Ashley Ramey rode the waters on her paddle board picking up debris.
“We just moved down from Panama City Beach and paddle boarding is really popular there,” Ramey said. “I work here at Jones Brothers Air & Seaplane Adventures. Since we work on the water and have friend who works on the water, we want to keep the waterways clean. I found some beer cans, tuna cans, and fishing hooks and tags — lots of things like that.”
Along with keeping the city looking nice, the goal of clearing the waterways is to remove the clutter and trash that threatens marine life.
“Through events like this,” Aho said, “we can really work to better the environment for our wildlife.”
At the end of the event, trash collected from around Tavares was dropped off at the Tavares Recreation Park and Aesop’s Park.
“I think the most enjoyable part of the event for volunteers was getting to spend a day out on the water and the satisfaction of knowing their efforts are going towards keeping our local waterways healthy,” Trippel said. “They seem to realize how important these waterways are to our way of life around this part of the state.”
He added that working with the City of Tavares has led to a great partnership with the FWC.
“Not only do we have the cleanup, but we are also working with then in other things as well,” Trippel said.
For more information about cleanup efforts in Tavares, visit http://www.tavaresfl.gov.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
