HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. () — Hundreds of folks on Hilton Head Island paid their respects to the Earth this morning by picking up litter along all 12 miles of the island’s beaches

“Earth Day really kind of serves as that one day to remind us of how much our natural beauty, our open spaces, our beaches, how much they provide to us,” said Jean Fruh, the Executive Director for the Outside Foundation.

Tourism, recreation and aesthetic beauty is what Fruh said the island thrives on. Keeping it clean is at the heart of that success.

“We know in the last four years; we’ve picked up 1.7 tons of trash. That’s a lot of trash off our beaches and parks,” said Abby Wirth, the Program Director for Hilton Heads Earth Day.

A total of 268 pounds of trash and recyclables got added to the 1.7 tons today. That was through the 25 groups of five to 30 volunteers each, and the six schools who participated by cleaning their campus grounds.

“I think being involved in the community is just such a great thing and I think we’ve all kind of taking something away from that and learning all the different aspects of what Hilton Head and Bluffton have to offer,” said one volunteer apart of the Earth Day trash pick-up.

Wirth said so far, this was their biggest Earth Day yet.

She said the efforts didn’t just stop at sweeping the beach. Folks ventured to parking lots, and nearby parks to keep the collective motto ‘every day is Earth Day on Hilton Head Island’ alive.  

Many of the volunteers said they are looking forward to stopping using plastic straws all together because of how many they found buried underneath the sand. They said those, along with cigarette butts, were most of the trash they picked up.