Press Release
We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful planet to take care of us and Toby the Turtle would love your help to return the favor! Join Toby on Folly Beach for his Earth Month Island-Wide Spring Sweep, hosted by the South Carolina Aquarium and Folly Association of Business (FAB) Litter Committee, on Sunday, April 2nd to help him continue his mission to #KeepFollyClean. From 1 pm to 3 pm, nine to ten stations will be set up across the island from the lighthouse to the county park, manned by station leaders who will provide supplies and data sheets to volunteers to collect and record data of all litter debris they find. The data will be added to the South Carolina Aquarium Litter Journal (SCALJ) and utilized by the Litter Committee for a concrete numerical understanding of litter issues on the island. This information will then be presented to officials to enforce and create legislation to improve the litter issues on Folly Beach. There will be discounts at participating local restaurants and shops for those partaking in the sweep in honor of Earth Month. Plus this year, an exclusive after-party open only to litter sweep participants will be hosted at Taco Boy Folly Beach upstairs in the Jaguar room. Join us for eats, drinks, and camaraderie! Toby’s Earth Month Island-Wide Spring Sweep is one of three large litter sweeps conducted annually by the FAB Litter Committee. The other two litter sweeps include World Ocean Day on June 8 and Toby’s Spooktacular Sweep in October. Last year, over 225 volunteers came together on Sunday, April 3, for Toby the Turtle’s Folly Beach Island-Wide Spring Clean and helped pick up over 12,000 individual pieces of litter on Folly! SCALJ logs revealed that 68% of the waste collected in this sweep was plastic-based. The most numerous items collected by far were cigarettes and smoking filters, with over 2,600 pieces, and the second most common litter item recovered was plastic food wrappers, with over 1,300 pieces. You can click here to read more about the Spring 2021 litter sweep results. We are also thrilled to have the Sweep Dragon with the Folly Beach Chair Company present again this year to help us pick up large debris items and dispose of all the trash bags from each station properly. Show some love to your Mother Earth and sign up to volunteer now, or learn more about the FAB Litter Committee, their mission, and annual litter sweeps at VisitFolly.com.
