By Abigail Buehler
Across Pinellas County, a quiet movement is reshaping the environment one cleanup at a time. Through community engagement and education, Keep Pinellas Beautiful has a goal to conserve and beautify our natural environment. This volunteer-driven organization focuses on litter prevention, waste reduction, conservation, beautification and community greening.
Keep Pinellas Beautiful cleans public spaces such as parks, neighborhoods and beaches through hands-on participation from motivated volunteers. During a volunteer cleanup on Nov. 16, around 200 pounds of trash was collected along the Gandy Beach shoreline.
John Carreiro is an Eckerd College student interning with Keep Pinellas Beautiful.
“We host a lot of cleanups along beaches, like we are here now,” Carreiro said. “Lots of inland cleanups. We promote awareness about climate issues as well, and of course just making Pinellas beautiful.”
The organization partners with schools and businesses to broaden its impact beyond events. Through educational presentations and youth leadership programs, these outreach efforts strengthen community involvement and encourage people to participate in monthly cleanups while also teaching residents about the long-term effects of pollution.
“My favorite part about interning with Keep Pinellas Beautiful is the cleanups,” Carreiro said. “The work they do is great, and I’m happy to be part of it.”
Keep Pinellas Beautiful organizes a beach cleanup at Gandy Beach on the third Saturday of every month. According to the organization, Gandy Beach is one of the most frequently littered waterfronts in the county. Around 50 community volunteers attended the November cleanup to help conserve the scenic shoreline.
“Well, my title is operations manager,” Paul Mitchell said. “The best way to explain that is I’m support; I help all the areas.”
Mitchell has been working with Keep Pinellas Beautiful for over 10 years. He said,
“My favorite part is you get to be outside and do something proper for the environment,” he said. “Look at this, it’s such a beautiful day today.”
What makes Keep Pinellas Beautiful unique is the cleanup supplies they provide for the volunteers. They keep their events organized, providing gloves, trash bags and drinking water. They even weigh and keep track of the trash collected after the volunteer events.
“A lot of people tell us that we’re so organized,” Mitchell said. “Some people will go to a cleanup, and they have to help themselves.”
Mitchell explained how they have a tent set up with supplies for the volunteers. They also give a briefing before the cleanup, providing the volunteers with information on how to stay safe during the event.
“We do cleanups, beautification, litter prevention, educations [and] things like that,” Mitchell said. “This is a nice area. People have the right to come out here and have a good time. I just wish they would take their trash.”
Tori Smith owns the company The Welcome Standard, which is a talent concierge for the St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay area.
“When companies are relocating employees down here, we help get them integrated into the community,” she said.
The Welcome Standard joined the weekend cleanup with Keep Pinellas Beautiful because as an upcoming business, they are focusing on community involvement, Smith said.
“We love to show off the area to new people,” Smith said. “And so, to feel good about that, we need to
help preserve the beauty of the place.”
With over 22,090 volunteers engaged in 1,455 community projects during the past year, Keep Pinellas Beautiful has removed over 241,521 pounds of litter.
“Our volunteers are already so motivated, we just help them take ownership of the area,” Mitchell said. “We’re very accountable and give our volunteers recognition they deserve.”
