Letter: More beach sand and less trash

To respond to two recent stories about Hilton Head Island beaches:

First, the story about the beach renourishment project advancement. I’ve been walking Hilton Head beaches between Shipyard Plantation and Disney’s resort since 1983, and one reason for beach sand to be washed away is all the digging up of the beach by many of the people who visit the beach.

These people dig up the beach with shovels ranging in size from children’s plastic pail-shovel size up to garden size shovels. Then when they leave the beach, they won’t fill in these holes, leaving the tide to wash this sand back out to sea.

In 33 years, I’ve seen just one lifeguard tell these hole diggers to fill in their holes before they leave the beach. If lifeguards would do that, perhaps it would cut down on beach renourishment projects.

Second, the story about beach trash piling up and the various types of trash that Shore Beach Services personnel find in the beach trash cans, and other types of trash that the beach sweep volunteers pick up.

One type of trash being found in the beach’s trash cans that isn’t mentioned in this article are empty beer cans and bottles, and lately empty wine bottles. Drinking alcoholic beverages on Hilton Head beaches is against the law so I asked why it’s being allowed. The lifeguard answered that lifeguards were told to ignore it by the local chamber of commerce.

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 12:13 AM with the headline "Letter: More beach sand and less trash."