Flagler Monument Island Clean-up for the Environment

Sitting in the middle of the crystal blue waters of Biscayne Bay in Miami Beach is the man-made island of Flagler Monument Island. Named for the column-like structure that sits on one side of the island, Carl Fisher, the Miami Beach creator built this island in honor of Henry Flagler.

I arrived at the marina on Purdy Avenue around 8:30 am on Saturday morning and headed toward the Ecomb.org table to sign-in and prepare for the short boat ride to the island. The non-profit organization is devoted to "educating Miami-Dade County’s residents and visitors to adopt responsible environmental behaviors and to raising their awareness to our surrounding ecosystems."

Today, our mission was to clean up the trash on Flagler Monument Island, an initiative the non-profit organization tackles once a month. More than 20 volunteers from all walks of life joined together to clean-up the island and leave the environment a little bit safer than it was when we arrived.

The hot South Florida sun beat down on my face and shoulders as the boat took one group at a time of the volunteers from the marina to the island. As we approached the island, (built as a perfect circle by Fisher but has since lost its shape from water, wind and hurricane erosion over the years) groups of families were already inhabiting the island for the day with their boats bobbing just offshore, barbecue grills and tents erected on the sandy beach.

As volunteers hopped from the boats, we approached the Ecomb table that was setup to retrieve our latex gloves and trash bags. I volunteered with my friend and her sister so with our gloves in place and trash bags in hand, we set out to pick up trash. Before we could take a step, one of the boaters approached us and asked for an extra trash bag so they could throw away their own trash. The City of Miami Beach has strategically placed trash barrels around the island for visitors to deposit their trash, but we of course handed over a trash bag to him. According to one volunteer, "We found the most amount of trash closest to the trash cans."

Not prepared for some of the things I saw, we picked up items such as:

*Beer bottles
*Heroine baggies
*Condom wrappers
*Used tampons and maxi pads
*Diapers
*Broken glass
*The grill plate of a barbecue grill
*Cigarette butts
*Plastic bags
*Plastic utensils
*Bottle caps
*Plastic bottles

In the hour we spent cleaning up the island, we amassed more than 20 bags of trash. Keep in mind that Ecomb performs this effort on a monthly basis so that is a lot of trash in a 30-day period. Sweat soaked volunteers were eventually transported back to the marina a boat load at a time feeling a sense of accomplishment as we made the island and its surrounding waters a little safer for animal inhabitants, wildlife and water life. By removing trash that taints the natural habitat, we had adopt responsible environmental behaviors ourselves and raised awareness of our surrounding ecosystems to the people who were enjoying the island for the day.

If you're interested in leaving an environmentally friendly mark on the environment and live in or visit the Miami Beach area, visit www.ecomb.org for more information on its efforts and volunteer opportunities.