Free the Island of Foam, Jacksonville Beach!

Polystyrene foam is a dangerous source of marine litter that poses significant risk to nesting sea turtles and wildlife along Florida's coasts. The First Coast Chapter seeks to support the City of Jacksonville Beach in the adoption of an ordinance to prohibit these dangerous items from city parks, pavilions and city owned property and to protect the ecology of the sensitive barrier island and its wildlife.

The First Coast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation seeks to help the City of Jacksonville Beach to to adopt an ordinance to prohibit the use of polystyrene on city property, parks and beaches. Polystyrene foam is a dangerous source of marine litter that poses significant risk to nesting sea turtles and wildlife along Florida's coasts. The barrier island of Jacksonville is a particularly sensitive area full of sensitive nesting grounds on both the intracoastal waterway and Atlantic Ocean.

The Chapter reported foam shavings in 2020 that blew through a 12 block area of the beaches during the construction of a local hotel. This debris spread throughout Jacksonville Beach east of 3rd Street and onto the beaches. It filled storm drains and due to the lightweight nature of polystyrene, made it absolutely impossible to clean up. At that time, the First Coast Chapter proposed the adoption of a straw on request ordinance and polystyrene prohibition to the City Council. No ordinance has been proposed by the Mayor thus far.

As the Chapter looks forward to the reopening of the beloved Sliders Restaurant as an Ocean Friendly Restaurant in January 2022 on the barrier island, it is important that not only this original meeting spot of the chapter and restaurant is foam free, but the entire barrier island to include Jacksonville Beach. For the large increase in visitors to our shores, it is important to model an Ocean Friendly Foam Free culture.