This past Friday, RCSE was able to hear from Tim Arnold with Fight Dirty Tybee about all the efforts they are doing to keep Tybee clean. This was perfect timing since the May social and service project was the following day where the club was going to volunteer for the organization! Before Tim began speaking, President Laura Lane reminded all club members about the social and service the following day as well as the June service project at Camp Low on Saturday, June 4th from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Foundation Chair Ed Engel read some of the causes that Rotary International is involved in around the world. Once all business items were discussed, Tim began his presentation.
Fight Dirty Tybee started in 2015 as a group of concerned residents who wanted to keep the beach clean. They became a 501c3 organization and since its formation, they have removed 440,000 cigarette butts, hosted 383 clean ups, and have had over 12,000 volunteers. Any age can volunteer and they have a standing Sunday night clean up each week. Their main area of focus is to have a smoke free beach (which was accomplished recently) and to work with local businesses to improve sustainability.
In addition to cleaning up the beach, Fight Dirty Tybee has many other programs such as ReBeachables, Hard to Recycle Center, Education and Awareness, Upcycling Recovered Plastics, and giving recognition to local restaurants for their efforts in not using products that can harm sea turtles (Turtle Friendly Restaurants). Their goals for 2022 are to have a smoke free beach (done), increase participation in events, increase educational programing, grow current programs, and to continue to collaborate with the City of Tybee. To learn more about this organization, please visit http://www.tybeecleanbeach.org