Sea Angels founders (l-r) Rod and Kathy Silverio and Robyn and Mike Halasz prepare for a cleanup event at the Boynton Beach Inlet in late January. The group aims to remove litter from the beaches with a ‘minimal carbon footprint and without disturbing the local wildlife,’ according to Mike Halasz. Photo by Kurtis Boggs
By Allen Whittemore
“Mike and I have been beach-goers forever, but they just kept getting dirtier and dirtier until we did not want to go anymore,” says Robyn Halasz, co-founder of Sea Angels, a project dedicated to environmentally sound beach cleanup projects.
In 2005, Robyn and her husband began cleaning up Ocean Inlet Park beaches around the Boynton Inlet, and wanted to do so without using plastic bags, throwaway gloves or anything else that would add to the existing trash problem.
They also began looking for any existing groups to join, but could not find one that was doing things the way they wanted. In March 2011, they partnered with Kathy and Rod Silverio to create the Sea Angels.
“Robyn and I had a vision that we could clean the beaches with a minimal carbon footprint and without disturbing the local wildlife,” says Mike Halasz. “We contacted the Solid Waste Authority, who have been very supportive, and added specialized recycling bins to those already at the park.”
One is a monofilament bin for the old fishing line that they constantly find on the beach. “It is such a problem,” Robyn says. “We find birds caught in it, and it also kills the turtles that eat it. I am so proud to say that people are really using these bins.”
When filled, these bins are emptied and the line is sent back to the manufacturer Berkley, which recycles it.
Another pet project is the cigarette butt recycling program. Mike said, “You would be amazed how fast we can find thousands of cigarette butts. Diseases can also last for days on discarded ones.” Additional bins have been added to accept and recycle these as well.
“I have also found needles with blood on them, drug vials, car engines, shotgun shells and whole IV systems … it can be really scary what you find,” Robyn said.
On the last Saturday of each month, volunteers gather at Ocean Inlet Park for a two-hour cleanup session. “Volunteers have come from as far away as Australia,” Mike proudly says. “And they are hard core, they see our passion and it gets them motivated. We cover the entire park.”
Each volunteer has a reusable plastic bucket and a pair of grabbers to do the work. Everything is sorted and much of it is then driven to the SWA transfer station, all at no cost to the city or county.
“We are saving taxpayer dollars and we don’t take any city money,” Robyn says.
Their efforts have made a large impact. The town of Ocean Ridge has already presented the Sea Angels with a proclamation appreciating the work that they are doing.
The Sea Angles have plans for an upcoming reef cleanup, and would like to see their model used by other municipalities. “My goal is to go national one day and international the next,” Robyn says.
Mike adds, “This is a social project, a social experiment. We hope to provide greater understanding in the community.
“We only clean up two beaches in South Florida; imagine the overall problem.”
For more information, visit www.seaangels.org.
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