PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — An organization called Coastal Crusaders is asking people to really focus on the planet this weekend. They said while many people will be shopping, people need to also focus on giving back to the planet.
"There's only one world, and we have to take care of it," said 15-year-old Zoey Yuhasz, who volunteers with Coastal Crusaders.
Yuhasz's passion is protecting the environment.
"I'm out here at the beach all the time….I see firsthand a lot about how we affect the environment with the choices that we make," she said.
She and her mother, Rhonda Yuhasz, started the organization, and they spent hours at the beach picking up trash.
"The number one source of litter is usually the cigarette butts, and the second would be plastic, single-use plastics, so we try to educate people on that and not using single-use plastics," said Rhonda Yuhasz.
This weekend, the organization, in partnership with Keep Pinellas Beautiful, is sending volunteers out to Madeira Beach to collect trash.
Members say last month, they picked up about 127 pounds of trash, and this month, they are expecting to collect even more after Thanksgiving.
"There's so much more after the holidays. July 5 is the biggest clean up of the year after Fourth of July, but every holiday, we have an influx of people, so the more people are out here, unfortunately, the more litter is out here," said Rhonda Yuhasz.
Aside from cleaning up the beach, volunteers are also putting out their beach boxes.
"A lot of tourists come to town, they buy toys, and they buy lawn chairs, and they can't take them home on the plane, so we put the boxes out on the beach so they can put the things in, and they are reused. We want to see them reused and not ending up in the water or in a landfill," said Rhonda Yuhasz.
They say despite the excitement of holiday shopping and Thanksgiving festivities, people should also be mindful of their actions.
"We just had Thanksgiving, so something we should be thankful for is our beautiful beaches, and we want to keep them that way," said Rhonda Yuhasz.
"Even it's just go out around your neighborhood, clean up for a couple minutes. Just the little bit from a lot of people can make a difference," said Zoey Yuhasz.
