IOP Annual Litter Data Analysis Reveals Bright Spots

The percentage of litter on Isle of Palms related to smoking decreased noticeably in 2023, according to data collected by the conservation group Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew and other volunteer “citizen scientists” using the Litter Journal, a project of the South Carolina Aquarium Citizen Science app. At the same time, volunteers engaged in organized group cleanups, on average, documented 17% less litter items on Isle of Palms than in 2022.

“Our ultimate goal is litter prevention, and the data suggests our community is making headway on that front,” said Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew Cofounder Susan Hill Smith. “We are also thankful the City of Isle of Palms is devoting more resources to litter collection, and we suspect an increasing number of motivated citizens are helping clean up litter on their own.”

Litter is still a persistent problem for Isle of Palms with close to 70,000 litter items documented with the Litter Journal in 2023, including 41,700 removed from the beach. 

Smoking litter accounted for 16% of the 2023 beach totals, compared to 21% in 2022, and 34% in 2018, when Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew’s first summer of cleanups engaged hundreds of volunteers and generated data that helped shine a light on litter problems. Related awareness efforts and a beach smoking ban enacted by the city in 2020 correlated with the declining percentage of litter tied to smoking.

Changes in smoking litter from 2022 to 2023 came with continued efforts to raise awareness of the beach smoking ban, including digital messaging that greets people as they arrive on the island, and an increased number of cigarette butt receptacles along the streetscape at Front Beach. The new receptacles include colorful canisters with messaging from the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation that ask smokers to “Hold onto your butt!” and dispose of it properly.

The City of Isle of Palms Environmental Advisory Committee worked with the city’s Public Works Department on installing the canisters, which likely impacted cigarette smoking litter off the beach as well. In 2023, 39% of litter documented in the island’s streetscape and parking areas was related to smoking, compared to 44% the year before.

Cigarette litter dropped from the No. 1 beach litter item on Isle of Palms to No. 2 in 2023, with plastic food wrappers and film taking the top spot. Cigarette butts are still the No. 1 item collected in the streetscape and parking areas. Other top litter items on the island include paper and cardboard, as well as plastic caps, lids, straws, straw wrappers, and left-behind toys.

While anyone can set up a user profile and record observations in the Litter Journal online, much of the data comes from an active calendar of group litter sweeps organized by IOP Cleanup Crew and the South Carolina Aquarium as well as the efforts of Lowcountry litter crusader Howard “Beach Santa” Hogue, who documented a quarter of Isle of Palms litter items on his own last year.

Total attendance at organized group events in 2023 (1,339 at 51 litter sweeps) was comparable to 2022 (1,382 at 45 sweeps) providing an opportunity to look for year-over-year trends in the amount of litter found on Isle of Palms. On average, each volunteer engaged in a group event in 2023 collected 36.4 litter items compared to 43.8 items in 2022 -– a reduction of about 17%.

Consistent with previous years, around 77% of all litter items recorded for Isle of Palms in the Litter Journal in 2023 were partly or completely made of plastic. That includes cigarettes, which contain plastic threads as well as toxic chemicals. The plastic pollution crisis has become so pervasive across the globe that this year’s international Earth Day has been themed, “Plastics vs. Planet.”

Join the Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew

IOP Cleanup Crew’s 2024 spring litter sweep series continues in partnership with the South Carolina Aquarium on May 6, and May 20. Each spring event starts with a 5:30 p.m. welcome session for new volunteers, followed by a cleanup from 6-7 p.m. 

Sign in at the beach access in the 1100 block of Ocean Boulevard by Coconut Joe’s. No advance registration required. Email susanhillsmith@gmail.com if bringing a group of 15 or more. 

During summer, litter sweeps will be twice a week on Mondays from 6-7 p.m. and Wednesday mornings from 7-8 a.m. Follow IOP Cleanup Crew on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IOPCleanup) for more details.

 -Susan Hill Smith, Co-founder of the Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew.