By Trimmel Gomes, Florida News Connection
Not everyone would wade into thick mangrove roots to pick up someone else’s trash, but one Miami man has been doing it for years.
Andrew Otazo never set out to remove 43,000 pounds of trash from the city’s mangroves. He just fell in love with the ecosystem – a tangle of roots and water that many overlook – and decided to act. Now, years later, he’s still at it, pulling trash alone each week.
Otazo, CEO of Aro Communications, said anyone can make a difference, no matter how small.
“I saw the incredible damage by all this trash building up, and one day I was like, ‘well, I’m gonna start picking up trash.’ And I picked up 40 pounds of trash that day,” he said. “And I’ve been at it ever since. I’ll be out there next weekend.”
Otazo said most trash in the mangroves doesn’t come from people littering there; it washes in from city streets through storm drains. He encouraged others to start small by picking up a plastic bottle on a sidewalk, knowing that it may never reach the bay. He said you don’t have to advertise your good deed, but sometimes people will get curious, ask what you’re doing, and join in.
Susan Peoski, an agriculture and natural resources teacher at Edgewater High School in Orlando, is modeling that same ethic for her students. On walks to the school’s urban farm, she hands out bags and grabbers so students can pick up litter along the way, teaching them that caring for the environment is everyone’s job.
“And I’m going to keep on doing it at my school,” she said, “and part of being a teacher is modeling so I feel like that’s an important role that I have; that I’m going to model positive choices, and then encourage and uplift my students to do similarly.”
Peoski, who also serves as her school’s green team advisor and green school coordinator, said students show her they care, even when they initially question why they should pick up trash. It’s an opportunity, she said, to teach that it’s not up to somebody else to take care of our environment.
Both Peoski and Otazo were in Orlando this week participating in events tied to the annual Climate Correction Conference.
Editor’s note: VoLo Foundation, which organizes the Climate Correction Conference, is a financial supporter of The Invading Sea. Banner photo: Mangroves in Miami’s Oleta Park (iStock image).
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How much trash has Otazo removed over the years, and what unusual items were included in a recent haul?