In September, Supply Shield (SS) employees spent a Saturday morning giving back to the Earth and the Saint Petersburg community. In a volunteer effort with Pinellas County Watershed Management & Keep Pinellas Beautiful we cleaned up trash in and around the Cross Bayou Canal and Joe’s Creek located in the heart of Pinellas County.
Joe’s Creek Watershed is a 9256-acre drainage basin in south-central Pinellas County. The basin includes parts of the cities of Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg, and Kenneth City. The Joe’s Creek system includes a main branch and three tributaries and is surrounded by residential, commercial, industrial, and recreational spaces. The main channel of Joe’s Creek flows from east to west, ultimately discharging into Cross Bayou. (for more information on Joe’s Creek Watershed, visit PinellasCounty.org)
During this year’s event, Supply Shield and other participants helped to remove 1,360lbs of debris from these two waterways!! The single stream recyclable material consisted of 300 pounds of glass, plastic, paper, steel, and aluminum. Supply Shield was amazed by the level of pollution, noting “we worked in such a small area and picked up everything from used needles to kids toys.” By the time this September’s event was complete, the area had improved considerably. Many bags of garbage were disposed of properly and even larger amounts of material were taken to a single-stream recycling center.
SS found the volunteer opportunity to be rewarding, but also as a learning experience. If more people participated in events like this, they would make better decisions about how they dispose of their garbage. The experience was one that everyone should see during their lifetime.