Earth Day Cleanup Helps Charlotte Harbor

In honor of Earth Day, CHNEP hosted a trash cleanup this past weekend.

Participants joined us for a socially distanced cleanup at Ponce de Leon Park in Punta Gorda, and even though the wind was blowing, we had over 35 kayakers, walkers, and even a boat cover the area!

With the help of Keep Charlotte Beautiful, we provide our volunteers with metal water bottles, t-shirts, biodegradable cleanup supplies, and reusable grab sticks! These allowed people to reach items that were entangled in the mangroves, as well as small cigarette butts littering the park.

We took in over 100 pounds of trash from our waterways! Some of the stand-out trash collection items were netting, a parking curb, and an old tire – all found in the mangroves and impacting Charlotte Harbor.

Sometimes helping our environment can seem insurmountable with all that is happening, but cleanups like this are a great reminder that even the smallest act can have an impact toward improving our water and land. Happy Earth Day!