Miami Beach Gets Trashed A Week Before Earth Day

Floatopia began in California and has since made it’s way to Florida. It is an annual event that has been held in Miami since 2012. On this day, thousands of people bring their inflated inner-tubes and float the Atlantic Ocean. The original intention of the giant beach party was to promote peace, kindness, and a sense of unity while of course, having fun. However, this year, attendees left a huge surprise behind: their junk.

Sadly, Miami Beach was left littered and covered in items that were left behind from Floatopia 2016, which took place this past weekend. The damage is so outrageous, in fact, that several officials have taken a stand against ever having another Floatopia take place here. Some of these include: Mayor Philip Levine, Commissioner Michael Grieco, and possibly even the leaders of the Facebook group associated with the event.

Here are some shocking facts on littering regarding our area:

• FDoT already spends about $10MILLION every year just to clean up roadside litter.
• About 2,000,000,000 TONS of litter ends up in the ocean every year.
• Overall, 3 of 4 people admit to intentionally littering in the past 5 years.
• According to CBS, Miami is #8 out of the Ten Dirtiest Cities in America.
• You can be fined and even get jail time for tossing trash. The penalties and laws on Florida littering can be found here: http://www.litterinfo.org/laws.htm.

As fellow residents, we urge you to contribute to the solution of keeping our beaches and city clean if at all possible. Let’s make this Earth Day a success, in addition to raising awareness on just how important it is to clean up after ourselves.