Panama City Beach, Orlando, Clearwater—Florida is home to a few cities that are famous for being spring break spots, whether for the beaches, hotels, or festivals. This March, groups of Spring Breakers will bring much more than just their friends, and their parents’ money to spend: these young adults will also harm the environment wherever they go.
Throwing your trash in the ocean or leaving it on the shore for the tide or animals to pick up isn’t the best idea. 100 thousand marine mammals and 1 million birds die every year because of plastic, either by choking to death or getting sick after eating particles of it within their food. Plastic bags are especially dangerous; not only do they take at least 20 years to completely decompose, but sea turtles often confuse them for jellyfish and ingest them.
“If you brought it on the beach, don’t leave it.”
This is what Cecile Carson, Vice President of non-profit community organization Keep America Beautiful, says.
“We want everyone to have fun, but keep it clean.” This includes throwing away plastic bottles or keeping them in your car until you have somewhere to throw them away, because each one takes an average of 650 years to decompose.
To the Spring Breakers who litter, Miami Beach is imposing and enforcing fines—$1,500 for the first offense, $2,500 for the second, and $3,500 for the third or subsequent offense. That’s a lot of money over a water bottle. The City of Miami will also most likely set out more garbage cans throughout it’s beaches and empty out it’s existing ones more frequently.
To extend some previous safety measures, almost all Miami beaches now prohibit alcohol, and glass bottles on their shores. Even going to the beach on a normal day, visitors can see chipped glass pieces buried in the sand. It’s unlikely visitors will step on them, but that’s not the case during Spring Break. One wrong step, and a visitor may seriously injure a muscle, or tendon in their foot.
Spring breakers are usually of that age where they think bonfires are fun. However, everyone learns about the key harming factor of the smoke it creates in elementary school: fires release carbon dioxide that cause global warming. Regardless of what is being burned by the shore, the smoke will release chemicals that can hurt one’s eyes, and even irritate, or burn their throat.
So spring breakers, remember: there’s nothing wrong with having a little fun, but be safe, and be mindful of the environment. Responsibility will ensure that the favorite Florida Spring Break spots will be always be there, and in their best condition, to handle all the fun vacationers want to have.
