Cleanup Krewe Hits Streets To Do Gasparilla's Dirty Work

TAMPA - No doubt, the revelers who pillaged Bayshore Boulevard on Saturday trashed the place. But this year's Gasparilla festivities were a little greener than last year's.

Parade-goers took advantage of the 50 extra recycling bins placed along the route and seemed more receptive to the volunteers encouraging them to recycle their beer cans and bottles instead of tossing them in the garbage, said Nina Stokes, the city's recycling coordinator.

"We were thrilled," Stokes said. "It was just a completely different visual this year, as far as litter."

This was only the second year the city put recycling bins along the Gasparilla parade route, and all 400 recycling bins were full by the end of Gasparilla.

There were a fair amount of stray beer bottles and cans on the street, though. So, the city may have to add more bins next year, Stokes said. The city also may have more volunteers working between Watrous Street and the Platt Street Bridge.

"That area's always absolutely horrendous," she said.

City officials did not have estimates Sunday of how much trash had been collected along the parade route. It's safe to say there was a lot. Last year, city workers hauled off 45 tons of trash.

This year's load might be slightly less than that because of the recycling efforts, city parks superintendent Marcia Carter said.

Robert Charles, who works for Portable Sanitation, a company that set up 500 portable toilets along Bayshore, was out at 3:30 a.m. Sunday, loading the toilets on the back of his truck.

"I think they had fun last night," he said, looking around. "There were a lot of beer bottles."

In addition to beer cans and bottles, lots of cardboard usually lines the route. This year, city officials encouraged krewes to keep cardboard at a minimum and handed out special bags for beads and recyclables aboard the floats. City workers found no couches along the parade route this year but did find one abandoned wheelchair, Stokes said.

Rosemary Reid, who lives on the corner of Bayshore and South Boulevard, knows all about the trash generated from the parade. Unfortunately for her, partiers sometimes mistake her yard for a garbage can or, worse, an outdoor toilet. That's why she installed a $350 plastic orange fence around her home and hired an off-duty police officer to protect her property.

In years past, she's hosted parties. Not this year.

"Now we're at the point where we just endure it," she said.

At least two guys were enjoying some of the spoils left over from the parade Sunday morning. Rick Pightling and Joe Bednar, both of St. Petersburg, went out at daybreak with metal detectors to search for hidden booty. By 10 a.m., each had gotten a pocketful of quarters and some beads. Bednar unearthed a stray silver hoop earring.

"You never know what you're going to find," Pightling said.