You may have seen the #LeaveOnlyFootprints tag on my Twitter and Instagram posts. It comes from a group based along the Alabama coast, but its principles really speak to all beach and coastal areas and really to the way we treat all of our natural spaces that we are so lucky to be able to enjoy, especially this time of year.
The main gist behind leaving only footprints is simply that! Leave that beautiful sand as you found it by taking with you all your trash and all your beach equipment when you leave. I know this sounds like common sense, but during the first year of Leave Only Footprints’ cleanup efforts, they removed over 100 TONS of trash from only FOUR MILES of beach. That’s a lot of trash! They removed over 18 tons of aluminum cans, almost 24 tons of plastic, and 18 tons of metal tent frames and beach chairs.
No matter where we spend our beach time, we share these beautiful places with all the creatures who were here before we were. By leaving only footprints, we can keep our beautiful places beautiful for all of us.
I hope to see you at the beach!
All my Gumbo Love!
Photo by Mac McAleer