It’s never too early to teach your kids about the importance of not littering and keeping our beaches clean. Young Oliver is a great example to show age should not stop anyone from helping the community and planet. Clean Horizons is a mission created by Oliver to help influence other families to reduce plastic waste and get involved in ways to help the environment. Follow along with Oliver to see all the adventures his family and Clean Horizons is up [...]
For the past 35 years, the Alabama Gulf Coast has been a part of an amazing project that helps clean up the coastline we all enjoy. Come be part of this movement on September 17, 2022, from 8 a.m. until noon, as we celebrate the 35th Annual Alabama Coastal Cleanup. What is the Alabama Coastal Cleanup? This is Alabama’s largest volunteer event. Neighborhoods, parks, streets, beaches and even storm drains are part of the cleanup. Picking up litter leaves the [...]
We appreciate all you do to keep our beaches and waters clean and the environment healthy. Have you thought about how to keep up the good work at home? Any of the following are easy ways to get started: Use coffee that is grown using sustainable standards and certified organic by the USDA. Recycle where you can. Don’t forget to carry your reusable grocery bags when you shop. Go paperless for bills and pay online. Light your life with energy-efficient light bulbs. Turn [...]
A quick family getaway to the beach is a good way to conquer back-to-school blues. It’s also a great time to teach the kids the importance of taking care of the environment. The Leave Only Footprints program is based on Leave No Trace principles. For a kid-friendly version, our Leave No Trace Principles for Kids helps children learn to be good stewards of our beaches and coastal lands. Know Before You Go - Have a family discussion about everyone doing their part to keep the [...]
Every third Saturday of September, residents and visitors alike gather at the beaches, bays and waterways for the annual Alabama Coastal Cleanup. These hordes of volunteers hit the sand and shores at 8 a.m. and work until noon to get the trash out of the splash. Alabama joined the International Coastal Cleanup in 1987 and since then, more than 100,000 volunteers have taken part in the local event. In the first 28 years, 15 million pounds of trash was collected [...]
Each year, August 5 is the day to celebrate everyone’s favorite briny bivalve mollusk: the oyster. Here on the Alabama Gulf Coast, we celebrate these delicacies every day. How much do you know about oysters? One oyster can filter 1.3 gallons of water per hour through their gills. They feed on organisms, such as plankton, during the process. Oysters have been eaten by humans for thousands of years. Oysters change their gender during their lives. They all start off as males and most change to female by [...]
We all call Planet Earth our home. It’s our responsibility to take care of our home and ensure future generations have as lovely a place to live as we do. Earth Day, April 22, is a day for citizens to unite in the effort to protect the environment worldwide. The 2021 theme for Earth Day is Restore Our Earth. An idea announced by Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin led to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Thanks to [...]
Can you imagine a floating island of trash that covers an area twice the size of Texas? While it isn’t actually an island, the Great Pacific garbage patch is a large system of ocean currents containing marine debris particles in the central north Pacific Ocean. These particles of plastics and floating trash contain an estimated 87,000 metric tons of plastic. Wow! Here on the Gulf of Mexico we aren’t dealing with a problem as massive as the Pacific. But we do have marine debris [...]
When you arrive at the beach, excitement takes over and you want to get to the water as quickly as possible. But, wait! How are you going to get there? Chances are, your vacation rental has a wooden path just for this purpose. That iconic boardwalk is more than an easy way to get to the beach. It’s also the protector of the beach dunes. The beach dunes along our sandy shores provide habitat for the diverse wildlife of the [...]
Small behavioral changes can have a significant impact, particularly when it comes to the environment. If you have already switched over to paperless billing, take a bow. You are making a bigger difference than you can imagine. A 2008 study commissioned by the PayItGreen Alliance found that by choosing electronic bills, statements and payments, the average American household could save 6.6 pounds of paper, 0.08 trees, 24 square feet of forest, 63 gallons of water, and 4.5 gallons of fuel per [...]
