Lake Worth Beach teams up with Beach Bucket Foundation to turn the tide on marine litter
“Every time you come to the beach, grab a bucket, pick up a couple of things and make our beach nicer.''
Picking up other people’s trash might not sound like the most exciting way to spend time at the beach. But roughly 100 volunteers did exactly that for two hours Saturday in Lake Worth Beach, celebrating the city’s new partnership with the Beach Bucket Foundation.
Launched in 2020, the non-profit foundation has roughly 100 bucket stations across Florida, including 65 from Tequesta to Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, offering beachgoers a chance to help turn the tide on marine pollution.
Lake Worth Beach became the foundation’s latest municipal partner Saturday with the unveiling of two stations across the street from the casino building at the city’s beachfront.
The stations are wooden cubicles with shelves holding four 3 ½ gallon buckets for beachgoers to borrow as they please. They are located near public trash cans at beach entrances, one at the north end and one just south of the pier.
“Every time you come to the beach, grab a bucket, pick up a couple of things and make our beach nicer,’’ City Commissioner Mimi May told the crowd of volunteers.
When you’re finished picking up debris, you dump it in the trash can and slide the bucket back on a shelf in the station.
“The stations are almost more about awareness than they are in solving the problem,’’ said Andrew Abbott, who started the foundation out of frustration after he was constantly collecting trash on scuba dives.
After attending a beach cleanup one day years ago in Carlin Park in Jupiter, he wondered how much more trash could be collected by providing volunteers with a bucket.
He started a program with Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation and the idea took off.
“They're not going to solve the problem,’’ he said of the bucket stations. “But what they do is they also not only give you an opportunity to make a difference while you are at the beach and they also bring awareness to the problem,’’ he said.
Lake Worth Beach considered a partnership with the foundation a few years ago but never followed through. The idea was put on the city's radar again by resident Leonard Bryant, who enlisted Vice Mayor Sarah Malega to take it across the finish line.
Lake Worth Beach banned smoking on its public beach two years ago. A partnership with the Beach Bucket Foundation seemed like a no-brainer, Malega said.
“We are a coastal city,’’ she said. “We need to be environmentally aware.’’
At Saturday’s kickoff event, volunteers wearing protective gloves and carrying trash pickers collected more than 120 pounds of litter.
“We live here because of the beautiful amenities like the beach. We need to keep them beautiful,’’ said Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss, who participated.
Lake Worth Beach paid the foundation $1,200 for the two stations.
Sponsorships are available, too, allowing companies and groups to put their logos on buckets for a fee. The proceeds keep the foundation going.
The foundation has inspired a spinoff program with three stations at Lake Erie, thanks to a Buffalo, N.Y.. snowbird who was impressed with the bucket stations she uses on Palm Beach.
“We have a pollution problem. The fish are eating it, the birds are eating it. It’s in our human blood stream. It’s insane,’’ Abbott said.
“We are all used to seeing trash everywhere. It's just stuff that we overlook because we are so used to it. But it shouldn't be there,’’ he said.
“And when people see these stations, they scratch their heads and they're like, ‘What's this for?’ Once they see it and they see a couple people using it, they go ‘Damn, that's a cool idea.’ It just makes you think.’’
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