Green Your Beach Routine
Spectacular ocean views, sidewalk cafes, and a distinctive wave wall. These are some of the things that make the City of Fort Lauderdale’s beach an urban tropical paradise, and one we want to preserve by keeping it healthy and clean. Make a pledge to green your beach routine by doing the following:
Pack an eco-friendly picnic. When you head to the beach, choose reusable bags, cups, silverware, and containers. Avoid bringing glass items. Broken glass and bare feet don’t mix. Leave lightweight items that can blow away in the wind at home, including straws and paper napkins.
Protect marine life. Every year, hundreds of thousands of birds, sea turtles and marine wildlife are killed because they get entangled in plastics or mistake them for food. Dispose of all trash in the beachfront containers or take it home with you. If you see litter on the water, on the beach, or along a shoreline and can safely remove it, please do so. Follow our instructions if you come across injured marine wildlife. Steer clear of marked sea turtle nest locations, and if you spot an unmarked nest, then please report it. Whatever you do, please do not approach, feed or otherwise interact with any sea mammals, fish, sea birds, reptiles or other wildlife you encounter. Be a good neighbor: enjoy the moment quietly from a distance.
Remember to recycle. Recyclables make up more than half of disposable beach trash. Place plastic bottles, aluminum, steel and tin cans and drink boxes in the blue or sand-colored recycling containers located along the beach or the adjacent sidewalk. If you did pick up a glass bottle along the way, it's recyclable too. Use the litter cans for: caps and lids, cigarette butts, other food containers, food wrappers, paper of any kind, plastic bags, Styrofoam, and any other kind of trash.
Don’t bury the butts. If you are a smoker, please take extra precautions to make sure the beach is not used as an ashtray. Contrary to popular belief, cigarette butts are not entirely bio-degradable, and before they would decompose, the toxins and chemicals in the tobacco, plus the plastic components, could do great harm to marine wildlife. In addition, we spend thousands and thousands of dollars each year cleaning up those butts, and that's money we'd rather spend on exciting programs for our neighbors and visitors. We ask that you please carry a small container to store cigarette butts while at the beach, then discard them in a litter can while leaving. Read more about why here.
Keep off the dunes. As part of our restoration efforts, we are encouraging natural dune formation via sea oat planting. Please be respectful of any grassy areas that you sea at or near our beaches. Do not walk on the dunes or pick any of the grass.
Get involved. Volunteer to participate in local waterway and beach cleanup events and encourage others to help keep our beaches and oceans clean. It’s another great way to do your part.