Global Eco Adventures to commemorate WORLD OCEAN DAY
June 3, 2021
Environmental non-profit to host beach cleanup
By Alex Junes-Ward
Global Eco Adventures (GEA) will host SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL CLEANUP in Myrtle Beach, S.C., as part of GEA’s ongoing series of statewide trash and debris “cleanups” and as the only thus-far state-registered event commemorating World Ocean Day (aka World Oceans Day), June 8.
The cleanup is not the first to be held by GEA, which co-hosts (with the South Carolina Aquarium and the S.C. Floodwater Commission) monthly cleanups across the Palmetto State as a means of both physically bettering the state and fostering a greater awareness of the importance of restoring and maintaining clean, healthy waterways say GEA officials.
“This is a perfect opportunity for South Carolinians to come out, support, and actively participate in World Ocean Day,” says GEA founding Pres. Tom Mullikin, who also chairs the gubernatorially established S.C. Floodwater Commission. “World Ocean Day is an internationally recognized day that encourages the education and implementation of worldwide sustainable development goals in terms of our oceans and seas, bringing about greater conviction in the protection of the ocean and the sustainable management of its resources.”
Mullikin, who this week hiked 20 miles along the S.C. coast with Columbia International University Pres. Mark A. Smith and others, is also planning for the month-long SOUTH CAROLINA 7 (SC7) expedition across S.C. from the mountains to the sea.
SC7 begins July 1 in Oconee County, winding for several hundred miles throughout the Palmetto State and concluding in Charleston, July 30. Cleanup mini-events will be held along the way.
“I see the June 8 SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL CLEANUP on World Ocean Day as something of a preliminary event for the July SC7,” says Mullikin. “It’s not actually part of the SC7 expedition, but it’s all connected as we continue to build enthusiasm and get everyone involved in helping protect our state’s uniquely beautiful natural habitats.”
The June 8 cleanup will begin on the Myrtle Beach boardwalk – 1110 N. Ocean Blvd. – adjacent to the popular SkyWheel, an easily identifiable landmark on the Grand Strand. Gloves and litter-recycling bags will be provided on-site. The event begins at 10:00 a.m. and will conclude at noon.
GEA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established “to create awareness of environmental sustainability through education of protected areas that are considered natural phenomena with exceptional aesthetic importance and fragile ecosystems for future generations.”
– For more information about SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL CLEANUP, please visit https://worldoceanday.org/event/south-carolina-coastal-clean-up/.
