Most of the trash on this island has accumulated at the high tide line where it starts to break down in the elements. Exposure to the sun and salt water causes the plastic and foam to start breaking 
off into smaller pieces and arsenic and creosote leech from the treated wood. Once a tidal surge or coastal flood occurs, all of these chemicals and small pieces of edible plastics move into the seafood nurseries located around this island. There are oyster beds, shrimp, flounder, crab, and many coastal fish species living in this area. This uninhabited island also contains an abundance of wildlife including a large population of deer and is used as a nesting area for many species of birds.
With all of the resources utilized below, we were only able to clean up less than one mile of the island’s coastline. But for this stretch of coastline that had never been cleaned before, our volunteers made a big difference.
Resources for the cleanup:
121 Volunteers = 605 volunteer hours
7 Recreational Boats
2 Government-Owned Boats
1 Commercial Transport Boat
Sponsors who made the cleanup possible:
Adventure Harbor Tours
All Around Tires
Barefoot Wine
Charleston Resort Marina
Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation
Liquid Culture
Republic Services
Participating companies:
Boeing
Cummins Inc.
Participating Government Agencies:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
South Carolina DNR
Results of the cleanup:
Amount of trash and debris collected:
Volume: 34 cubic yards in the dumpster
12 tires equaling another 2 cubic yards taken by a tire retail store for disposal
Weight: Dumpster – net weight 6,200 pounds
Tires – 440 pounds
We left several piles of collected trash on the island. Once we return to the island and remove those piles, we will update these totals.
Contents of trash collected:
Some teams did a great job of recording what was taken off the island. Some teams were a little challenged when it came to providing a detailed count. I believe the count below is a fair summary of what we removed from the island on 3-15-2014. Removing everything that did not belong there was our goal. We had a well-balanced mix of volunteers. Some teams concentrated on the tedious job of picking up and counting the hundreds of small items like soda bottles and pieces of foam while others were removing large and heavy pieces of debris.
Trash and Debris Inventory:
| 7 pairs pants | 2 shirts | 21 shoes and flip flops |
| 1 towel | 10 rags/pieces of cloth | 2 pieces of fishing line |
| 7 fishing bobbers | 3 nets | 12 rope |
| 7 fishing related items | 521 pieces of foam | 265 glass containers |
| 18 bulbs (most unbroken) | 72 metal containers | 2 sand fencing wire strands |
| 37 paper/cardboard items | 10 balloons | 1,173 plastic bottles |
| 143 detached bottle caps | 289 wrappers/containers | 52 straws |
| 6 plastic utensils | 1 plastic baby doll | 22 cigarette lighters |
| 3 plastic tarps/sheets | 37 plastic items | 15 balls |
| 100 feet of rubber hose | 28 rubber other than tires | 531 wood items |
| 1 bicycle | 1 car muffler | 1 fire extinguisher |
| 2 notes in a bottle |
