Over 100 pounds of debris collected from Causeway

Keep Lee County Beautiful held a 5th of July Beach Cleanup on July 5 from 8 to 10 a.m. on the Sanibel Causeway, along with additional cleanups on Bunche Beach and Fort Myers Beach.
Mike Thomas, program coordinator for Keep Lee County Beautiful, reported that 10 people volunteered their time to take part in the Causeway Islands event, gathering 117 pounds of trash.
“These 10 volunteers did a really good job cleaning up Island B,” he said.
Twenty-three people showed up at Bunche Beach, collecting 75 pounds of garbage.
“They cleaned a little over a mile of shoreline,” Thomas said.
The Fort Myers Beach event had the largest turnout, with over 100 volunteers taking part. Lynn Hall Memorial Park staff, who handled all the bags, estimated that at least 600 pounds were picked up.
“The park staff helped us out quite a bit by taking all the full bags as we filled them,” he said.
In total, about 133 took part in the after-holiday cleanups, with 792 pounds gathered.
“The most common items gathered were the remains of used fireworks and party supplies,” Thomas said. “Beer bottles, soda bottles, food wrappers, cups, beach chairs, toys, a broken beach umbrella and lots of cigarette butts.”