Letters to the Editor

+ Let’s pick up the trash
Dear Editor:
My husband and I have been visiting Siesta Key over the past 20 years. For the past several years we visit for the month of May and hope to purchase a full-time home here.

However, our experiences this year concern us greatly. Walking the beach, I pick up debris and trash, as well as shells. This year I have collected more broken glass than shells. These fragments were often in a position to inflict a serious injury to a child’s small foot. At first, I just threw the pieces away, but as I realized there was a trend, I began to save them.

Trash and cigarette butts! Often it feels like we’re walking in an ashtray with so many discarded cigarettes. Despite the “no smoking” policy, beachgoers puff away. 

Last night we decided to walk from Beach Access 2 to the drum circle. As usual, I began to collect plastic bottles, toys, clothing and other debris. I had to stop twice to unload in the sparsely placed trashcans. In total, by the time I reached the public beach, I had collected three armloads of assorted trash! And the worst offense — dirty diapers left on the beach! It is a total disregard for the health of other beachgoers or the beautiful Gulf that should not be treated as a cesspool. 

We need enforcement and education of youngsters in school, scouts, and churches — perhaps a public campaign to protect the greatest asset of Sarasota County! Thanks also to the other volunteers who I’ve seen collecting.
Linda Kelly,
Monkton, Maryland