Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Elias Rosa and members of Boucher Brothers Management at the JW Marriott Beach location started their beach cleanup early - around 7:00 AM!
Battalion members of the Lely High School Trojan Army JROTC were part of the beach cleanup crew.
BACR Chair Chris Ricci welcomes the May Beach Cleanup volunteers with sponsors from the Marco Island Association of Area Realtors.
The Marco Island Key Club tackles the dunes and boardwalk area where large items are habitually dumped. The volunteers found the large shade cloth from a broken beach umbrella!
Volunteers from the Snook Inn (Caravelli Restaurant Group), a May Beach Cleanup sponsor, gathered at South Beach with friends and family members!
Officer Ed Barrios and Public Works employee Mario Tamayo put a tire, pieces of plywood, and PVC pipes in a truck from Code Enforcement.
A reminder that "Section (54-36(b) “Except for service dogs, no animals shall be allowed on the beach.” (Section 54-26(b)). Only two questions can be asked to determine if it is a service animal.
On May 9, 2026, over 150 volunteers gathered at South Beach for a beach cleanup and picked up over 200 pounds of trash. Thanks to our May beach sponsors, the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors and Snook Inn (Caravelli Restaurant Group) and their teams, who brought friends, neighbors, family members, and lots of children to enjoy a beautiful morning of cleaning the beach and learning about stewardship!
Members of the Marco Island Academy Key Club also joined the group and a big thanks to first-time participants – the Lely High School Trojan Army JROTC battalion located in Naples. Boucher Brothers Management at the JW Marriott Marco location gathered their team early – at 7:00 AM - to pick up litter from their location.
Before the start of each cleanup, Chair Chris Ricci of the Beach and Coastal Resources Advisory Committee (BACR) goes over a list of non-organic materials such as plastic, paper, straws, food wrappers, cigarette butts, and general trash. Organic materials such as dead sea life and marine debris are not picked up. BACR provides bags, gloves, and a limited supply of buckets and grabbers for use by volunteers.
Litter on beaches poses a significant threat to sea turtles during nesting season. Trash can obstruct nesting site areas, making it difficult for females to lay eggs or find a suitable location. For hatchlings, trash can create obstacles, preventing them from reaching the water safely. Food scraps left behind attract nuisance wildlife to the beach, increasing the risk to vulnerable hatchlings.
A big shout out to Marco Island Civic Association (MICA) who offered free parking to all the volunteers from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM at their Sarazen Park South Beach location, and also for providing help with trash pick-up by bringing over their Gator Utility Vehicle. For this month’s cleanup, volunteers needed help with big items such as tires, PVC pipes, plywood boards left under boardwalks, and dune areas. Another big thanks goes to Code Officers Ron Hofsteadter and Ed Barrios, and Public Works staff member Mario Tamayo.
For two hours on May 9, 2026, volunteers collected trash and left the beach cleaner and safer for both sea turtles and the ecosystem.
Next Beach Cleanup: June 13 2026, at 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM at South Beach.
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