Folly Beach Cleanup (Beach Sweep/River Sweep 2009)

This past weekend, nearly 200 volunteers came out to clean up Folly Beach.  As part of the annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep, Charleston Waterkeeper helped organize the efforts on “The Edge of America.”  We even made the news! Here’s a little background on the event:

Beach Sweep/River Sweep—organized by S.C. Sea Grant Consortium in partnership with S.C. Department of Natural Resources—is the largest one-day litter cleanup of South Carolina’s beaches and waterways. Every third Saturday in September thousands of South Carolinians volunteer to clear trash from our beaches, rivers, lakes, marshes, and swamps.

As usual, cigarette butts took the prize as the most prevalent item found littering our beaches.  What was the strangest item found?  I’d say the toilet and the lawnmower found on Folly are up there!  Here’s a pie chart showing the breakdown of the top ten items found on Folly Beach. (Click on the chart for a larger version)