Tampa Baywatch has become a favorite charity locally with measurable improvements in local water quality, against great odds. It celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary with a 5-course wine-paired, gourmet dinner at the Don Cesar’s famed
Maritana Grill in mid-September, a fundraiser to benefit their organization’s marine debris removal initiative.
Every year, over 8 million metric tons of plastic ends up in our oceans.
This includes everything from plastic straws, beverage bottles and cans, plastic bags, to-go food containers, beach toys plus cigarette and cigar butts, fishing gear, abandoned crab and lobster traps, and newspapers that are thrown in your driveways. Much of it washes down storm drains. That amounts to five grocery bags full of plastic trash for each foot of coastline around the world.
Recovering some of the larger items, like abandoned crab traps, has been a goal for Tampa Baywatch for years. We were thrilled to be able to help them get some notoriety by running their derelict crab trap poster featuring Dagwood and Blondie on the cover of our December 2008 edition to celebrate it’s 15th Anniversary.
They have also made a significant dent on keeping discarded fishing line out of the Bay and the Gulf by providing fishing line collection tubes in convenient locations on the coast and inland.
Attacking straws.
In the U.S. alone, 500 million straws are used every day! While drinking straws only amount to .025% of the total plastic that enters our oceans, small items like straws, bottle caps and cigarette butts are a place to start in talking about cutting back on the pace of pollution.
Here in south Pinellas, Restaurant Guide and newsletter publisher Bob Griffin has been at the forefront of the “Go Strawless” campaign. He was kind enough to share the following list of restaurants that have promised not to provide straws unless they are requested, a starting point to reduce waste in one small way.
All of these restaurants, bars and cafes, located on the Pinellas Beaches, have agreed to “Go Strawless.’*
*This may mean they only offer straws (plastic or paper) upon your request.
TREASURE ISLAND:
Bilmar Beach Cafe
BRGR Kitchen (TI Beach Resort)
Caddy’s Waterfront (Sunset Bch)
Captain Bill’s Kitchen
Feola’s Italian
Gator’s Café
Gigi’s Italian (TI)
Ricky T’s B&G
Sea Dog Brewing
Shrimpy’s Po Boy
Sloppy Joe’s
Taco Bus
VIP Mexican
ST PETE BEACH:
360 Degree (Hotel Zamora)
Alden Cabana Bar
Agave Mexican
Boat House Kitchen (Postcard Inn)
Castile (Hotel Zamora)
Compass / Sirata
Crabby Bill’s / SPB
Dolphin Beach Resort Restaurants
Gigi’s Italian (SPB)
Giuseppe’s Pizzeria
Guy Harvey’s Rum Fish
La Casa del Pane
Maritana Grille (Don Cesar)
Mastry’s Brewery
Oyster Shucker
PJ’s Oyster Bar
Rick’s Reef
Sea Porch (Don Cesar)
Shells Seafood
Sirata Tiki Bar
Starlite Cruises (SPB)
Tapz on Corey
The Don Cesar Resort
Toasted Monkey
Trade Winds Resort Restaurants
Woody’s Waterfront
PASS A GRILLE:
Gennaro’s Italian
Grace Restaurant
Paradise Grill
Sea Critters
Sea Horse Restaurant
St Pete Yacht Club
The Brass Monkey
The Hurricane
The Wharf
TIERRA VERDE:
The Island Grille
MAINLAND:
Leverocks (Pasadena Area)
Tyrone Mall
Lucky’s Market
Rubio’s Coastal Grill
Red Robin, Ruby Tuesday
Longhorn Steakhouse
Buffalo Wild Wings
Hooters
GULF PORT:
O’Maddy’s Bar & Grille
See more restaurants who went Strawless in Gulfport this summer here.
Article by Peter A. Roos