Throughout September and October, our collaborative programming will focus around 3 central goals: cleaning up our neighborhood for International Coastal Cleanup Day, working with local highschool students to teach them the ins and outs of sustainability consulting, and overseeing these students as they help Coconut Grove businesses to eliminate plastics. 

This initiative will include two coastal cleanups in Coconut Grove, one block party, and a series of sustainability consultations for businesses. 

Each cleanup will take place September 17th on International Coastal Cleanup day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), and all cleanup attendees will receive a free limited-edition reusable stainless steel tumbler and a gift card to Grove businesses that make a plastic reduction pledge. To register for these cleanups, click  here. The block party will begin at 6pm after the afternoon cleanup, and the first ~150 attendees who take a personal plastic pollution pledge will receive the tumbler, which gets you a discount for a beverage at Barracuda’s. 

The business consultations will take place from mid September to late October, after Debris Free Oceans has trained high school students from Ransom Everglades and La Salle in business engagement. 

Why should your Coconut Grove business sign up? 

This is an amazing opportunity for businesses! Through this program, businesses will receive free marketing, free sustainability consulting, and a guaranteed increase in business (and guaranteed pride in helping to save our planet!). 

Your business will be promoted through Debris Free Oceans social media and newsletter (20k+ reach), Miami-Dade County’s Plastic Free 305 program, the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District, and news media coverage we receive. 

Another perk – the Coconut Grove BID will purchase gift cards from your business for distribution during our beach cleanups and provide you with free water-soluble carryout bags + reusable bento boxes to give to customers for to-go orders! 

   

The last and perhaps most inspiring aspect of this program is the opportunity to receive free sustainability consulting from Debris Free Oceans and work with youth from local high schools to eliminate plastics from your business. You will work directly with a DFO team member and students who have been trained in Sustainability Consulting and are Blue Grove Sustainability Consulting Scholars. 

Any businesses interested in registering should fill out this form. 

For any questions, please reach out to plasticfree@debrisfreeoceans.org

Why should students register for the Blue Grove Sustainability Consulting Scholars Program? 

We are partnering with two schools in Coconut Grove: Ransom Everglades and La Salle. These schools were selected because we wanted to engage our immediate community in the Grove. 

This is a unique opportunity for high schoolers to gain real world experience in such an important field while working with a leading nonprofit in the Plastic Pollution Space, DFO. This program will involve 1) two mandatory training sessions held at school, 2) accompanying DFO staff to visit and recruit businesses in the Grove during September and October, and 3) presenting findings at the end to showcase how many plastics you were able to eliminate from businesses. 

As high schoolers, it can be difficult to distinguish yourself from other students while applying for internships and colleges, and a program like this could help set you apart. Additionally, you will begin to meet people and build your network in the environmental space! Plus, you’ll be doing good for our local community and our global oceans.

Any students interested in registering should fill out this form.  

For any questions, please reach out to plasticfree@debrisfreeoceans.org

How does this program fit in with our mission? 

Here at DFO, our end goal is to work with a network of organizations and businesses to reach a place where all communities are free from all harmful debris. We have started in Miami by curating programs which prioritize community engagement with plastic pollution, empower individuals to make lifestyle changes reducing their single use plastic consumption, and educate people about the benefits of a circular economy where items are not thrown out immediately after use. We believe that change will be achieved by working at all levels of society: the youth, the general public, the business community, and the local government.

Our efforts have taken us all throughout Miami, organizing beach cleanups, educational events, and consulting businesses, but Coconut Grove is our home turf. It is where our offices are and our staff members live, which is why we are so excited to launch this new initiative with the Coconut Grove Business Improvement District and focus on our immediate community. 

We hope you all are as excited about this as we are, and that you come out to support our events, enroll your children in our Blue Grove Sustainability Scholars Program, and support the businesses we work with who are eliminating plastics from their business models. This is a community effort, and we couldn’t ask for a better community.