What you missed: Students clean the bay at Baynanza

By: Jordan Coll/Staff Writer

On Saturday, Apr.13 at Biscayne Bay Campus the 37th Annual Baynanza event was more than just a simple clean up, it was a call to action in bringing awareness to the environment.

The event lasted from 9:00 a.m. to late afternoon. With the support of staff members from Miami-Dade County several students were able to gather up leftover debris found on Little Sanspur Island.

From picking up plastic straws to empty bottles students gathered up with bags filled with leftover trash from the island. Police officers made sure the boats were properly escorted from BBC campus as students headed to the island.

Catherine Forte, the event director for Baynanza said that the purpose of the event is to educate students on their environment and how to deal with environmental issues.

“It’s inspiring to see young students who are willing to take the time to actually make a difference within their community,” said Forte.

It took no more than just a sight of countless empty bottles and hygienic products on the island to really see the effect of people on the beach.

Students picked up piles of garbage and microplastics at Sanspur Island. Photo by Jordan Coll

Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life. These plastics can potentially harm natural systems that can affect ecological cycles vital to the survival of organisms. Plastic waste takes a long time to decompose, usually taking about twenty years to fully break down in the ocean.

Forte said that this year’s attendance was greater than it’s been in the past and that students were able to gather up the trash on Sanspur Island leaving the beach better than how they found it.

Students came together at the end to take pictures and discussed how they were in shock of the amount of trash that was collected that day.

“We are all connected somehow to the environment it’s how we live and breath,” Forte.