Just a whole lot of great people showing some #islandlove today

The First Friday Roadside Cleanup crew is about to begin — re-dubbed the Second Friday crew because, seriously, who would have wanted to pick up trash on the morning after New Year’s Eve? Above, Sue Blair (left) addresses the troops before some head north, some head to the shore and the rest start at the bridge (background) and work our way up the road.

Road trip: It is crazy wonderful how many people showed up this morning to pick up roadside and beach trash north of the bridge on Ambergris Caye today! Certainly our hard-core regulars were out in force. And so many folks were here for the first time.

Including the drone.

That’s right. We had a drone filming us as we picked up trash!

Watch for the live action, heart-stopping drama of the “Tres Cocos First Friday Roadside Trash Pickup” Experience. Coming to a streaming site near you!

We be so bad!

Here are some great photos Sue Blair took during today’s adventures with trash!  If you see yourself in some of the photos, add your ID!

After two holidays and six weeks off, the trash was spectacularly bad today.

But right now, the road looks spectacularly clean, at least as far north as the old Palapa Bar turnoff. There was some serious energy and determination in this gang today.

And I can’t begin to say, again, how gratifying it was to have fresh faces pitch in and make new friends along the way.

This is where island love begins, at the foot of the Sir Barry Bowen Bridge in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize. It is always the same in this one spot and it seems like this is always were I and Wayne McCrae like to start our work. Two two of us can clean out this hole pretty quickly. By tomorrow? Hmph.

People passing on the road got involved too. A very nice woman from Pennsylvania and her son stopped to chat and donated $50 BZD so that we can buy more trash pickup sticks and bags. A couple from Ohio who joined us for the morning also donated $40 BZD to the cause.

I’d be speechless, if I weren’t a writer. The support and generosity we are receiving is just wonderful.

The drone operator, who I understand will be filming the Phoenix Resort’s weekly beach cleanup tomorrow morning is going to launch a social media campaign for all of Ambergris Caye. Very simply, every time you or your friends, family, workmates launch a cleanup campaign, add the hashtag #islandlove to it.

1. Pick up trash.
2. Shoot some selfies of you and your crew.
3. Post them online with the tag #islandlove .
4. Help spread the word that Ambergris Caye is being reclaimed for nature and its people.

We can do this!

Right now, I’m going to head out on my bicycle and take one more look at the results of our efforts. Quickly, before the first Styrofoam container or Crystal water bottle is tossed down. It will happen but bit by bit, we’ll all fall under the spell of #islandlove .