Page 16 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2023

COAST NOTE
story by Cherie Ward
photos courtesy of One Clean Gulfport
Earth Day is celebrated globally each year on April 22, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t help out our planet year-round by adopting green living, earth-friendly habits into everyday life.
And that’s the message One Clean Gulfport is spreading all along South Mississippi in hopes other Gulf Coast cities will pick it up.
“The green initiative upon which most of us agree is that we should aim to reduce the amount of waste we generate in the first place,” said Jenny Johnstone-Smith, executive director and founder of One Clean Gulfport. “Recycle what you are able. Composting is another great way that we can keep garbage down and improve our gardens at the same time.”
The nonprofit coalition was formed in early 2022 following social media complaints from long-time Coast residents as well as area newcomers about litter and garbage dumping.
“Much of the chatter pointed the blame squarely at the city,” she said. “And even when people blamed other residents for not caring enough to keep our city clean, they still blamed the city for not cleaning it up quickly enough. The main problem, as residents saw it, was the city’s lack of response, then their solution was putting everything on the city. But looking at the scope of the problem differently, gave a different solution.”
In the name, clean stands for Clean, Land, Environments, And Neighborhoods, and the movement can be easily adopted by other cities and towns. The initiative will offer training later this year to create a diverse group of volunteers skilled in prevention and education strategies and is moving toward creating a coast-wide group – the Clean Coast Corps – to advocate ongoing prevention and enhanced code enforcement and assist in community clean-ups along the Coast. The ultimate goal is to create One Clean Coast. The organization’s first public cleanup event is to clean a 16 square block area in Gulfport and is set for April 22.
“One thing I would like people to think about is that prevention takes longer,”
she said. “Decades ago, no one believed we would enjoy smoke-free workplaces, transportation systems, and restaurants. But smoke-free workplaces are now the norm, not the exception. Using similar evidence-based prevention strategies as used with tobacco prevention, our efforts will initially begin in Gulfport, with plans to eventually target all coastal communities, because One Clean Gulfport is one step closer to One Clean Coast.”
Visit www.onecleangulfport.org for additional information. 16 | April 2023
DOWN TO
E RTH
www.onecleangulfport.org
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
SATURDAY
APRIL 22, 2023 8 A.M. TO NOON
This is a family-friendly clean- up event for ages 12 years old and over (children must be supervised by authorized adult). Sign up as a family, civic group, workplace or individual. Visit the website to register.