By Georgia Osten
I think I wrote something similar to this after last Memorial Day Weekend, or was it Spring Break, but darn it, something needs to be done. I’m absolutely saddened to venture out after a weekend like we’ve just had to see the abandoned state of our beaches, litter stretching from the dunes clear down to the water’s edge. As we posted pictures of the beach, prior to the weekend, a lot of our readers comment “how beautiful,” or “when is all that stinkin’ seaweed going to be raked away.”
I would never try to insult our readers by insinuating they would treat our beach with such a lack of respect, so please don’t think I’m lashing out against any of you. I just don’t understand how others can come here to visit, expecting everything to be pristine, act with such wild abandonment and leave it looking like a third world country. I’m sure they’ll expect everything to be picked up, including the seaweed, next time they visit. I saw Nuisance Abatement on the beach this morning, making his rounds and photographing the offenses. “Plastic or Paper,” he says, a ticket or a garbage bag to pick up the trash lying around them? The trash they’ve been sitting in for the last three days? Are they so complacent or is this the way they live at home? I think not …
Thanks to my family for editing this to help me tone it down a bit.
GO’s Sand Bucket is only one beach bum’s journal of life at the beach, probably something each of you can relate to. Please feel free to email me with your thoughts, visions and/or feelings of just exactly what the beach means to you.
Contact Georgia Osten:
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]
Posted in 
Go Georgia! The beach was a mess – it’s sad and it makes me angry. Clean up your campsite and take your trash with you when you go or please, don’t come back!
Georgia,
Thanks for your comments. My family has had a cabin down around Caplen for the past 40 years. We have seen our share of holiday and summer vacation crowds, but we have never seen a crowd as the one this past Memorial Day weekend. From Rollover to Crystal, ever square inch of beach was packed with visitors camping and partying. In front of our beach house, tents were placed side-by-side for long stretches, with partying long into the night. We have long cherished our beach house and the island as a family destination. Yet, this year seems to mark a change in visitor behaviour and intent. Certainly, the amount of trash left behind was shocking and needs to be addressed. But what shocked me more was the seemingly lawlessness and recklessness of this recent batch of visitors. Moreover, something needs to be done to police these crowds. It looks like a letter to the County Commissioners may be in order.
I have traveled all over the world and to many different beaches. I have never seen a mess like what was left on our beach. I too do not understand why people would just leave their trash behind. We are blessed to have so many trash cans right on the beach to use. Maybe some heavy fines need to be put in place and reenforced.
Hey Tuff E Nuff, you missed a spot “or two”
With the time each of you took to write here….you could have filled up a bag or two yourselves….I did!
Thanks for posting this article. Every year I become angry once again after seeing all the trash on the beach, especially after a holiday weekend. I find it amazing how some people just don’t care.
We saw that some visitors had put their trash into a large bag – and then abandoned it just a few paces away from a beach trash can in one direction and from a dumpster in another direction. The thought was right but a complete waste of time in the long run.
I don’t undestand why one would TRASH the beautiful place you go to VACA. It doesn’t make sense to me.
I am with you Georgia! What a mess! My husband and I took a ride down the beach before heading home yesterday and saw trash galore. Why why why must people leave their trash?!!! It is maddening and I hope that someday in the near future we can come up with a solution.
Thanks for the article…my sentiments exactly!
Lori Hastings