The Girls Gone Green joined Keep Jacksonville Beautiful and others from around the globe in picking up litter for the annual Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday, Sept. 21!

Keep Jacksonville Beautiful is the local affiliate of The Keep America Beautiful commission. Each year, Keep Jacksonville Beautiful organizes local International Coastal Cleanup Day cleanup locations throughout the city led by site captains. This year, The Girls Gone Green was once again site captain at Riverside Park, next to historic Five Points. 

Why was an inner-city park part of a cleanup devoted to cleaning up the coastlines and waterways? Simple. Trash travels! Located just a few short blocks from the St. Johns River, Riverside Park gets a lot of people traffic, which equates to a lot of trash – litter that can easily blow or wash down the road or make its way into drains. Stopping trash in its tracks prevents litter from washing into the river and out to sea. 

International Coastal Cleanup Day was established more than 30 years ago in Texas. Since then, it has grown to include volunteers from states and territories in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Since its inception, more than 12 million volunteers have collected more than 220 million pounds of trash! 

The Ocean Conservancy has some great resources for starting your own cleanup – before, during and after. You can make plans to join an established cleanup next year or start your own!

Download the Clean Swell app to document the trash you find year-round. You don't have to wait for an official cleanup to make a difference! Pick up trash wherever you see it. Next time you're at the beach, bring a bag or bucket to collect litter. Everyone can make an impact. 

Thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who came out to help clean up at our site and around the world! How cool is it to participate in and international event united to protect our seas from harmful trash?

Why grow your own? 

Growing your own food puts to use space you have available. Even in small spaces, you'd be surprised by how much you can grow with container gardens or raised garden beds. Alternatively, community gardens like the Riverside Avondale Community Garden and others like it, provide a space to grow if you don't have the room at your home.

Produce in supermarkets has a high carbon footprint because it is often grown on the other side of the country or even in another country and shipped to your local grocery. That's why growing your own food or supporting your local farmers is critical to being eco-conscious and lowering your carbon footprint. It also often tastes better and you can control exactly what's going into growing your food i.e. what goes into your food, goes into your body when you consume it. 

Plus, you can attract beneficial pollinators to your yard which in turn gives them a food supply – symbiosis at its best! Involving children in the growing process is not only educational, but it often gets them to try new things and eat healthier as they try the foods they labored and nurtured to grow. ​

By Carrie Resch

Instead of buying bottled water, invest in a refillable water jug that you can fill pre-storm and use to refill reusable water bottles. Get creative! You don’t necessarily need to run out and buy something new – fill up your existing containers and pitchers. You can throw some pre-filled water bottles in the freezer, so if you lose power, you will have cold water. As a bonus, the frozen bottles can double as “ice packs” for your food. Don’t forget to fill your bathtubs and sinks up with water as well for bathing, washing hands and flushing toilets. If you don’t end up needing the water you’ve collected, you can use it to water plants.

If you're concerned about your water quality for drinking water, you could always purchase a water filter. Brita water filters are recyclable through Terracycle. Details about how to recycle the filters are available online.

Make sure you have plenty of charcoal or propane for cooking. This handy BioLite Wood Burning CampStove can cook your meals and charge your devices. 

Keep non-perishable foods on hand such as Amy's Kitchen canned chilis and soups or Dr. McDougall's vegan meals. 

Don't forget to make plans for your pets! Have a plan and take them with you! Remember, pets are a lifetime commitment. In case of emergency, they will need you more than ever. Don’t leave them behind — plan ahead. 

Locate your pet-friendly shelters in the area and make sure you have all the required paperwork like vaccination records. Keep a photo of your pet handy and also a photo of you and your pet to prove ownership. 

Check out sites like www.petswelcome.com to locate pet-friendly hotels you can evacuate to. Check out this list from the Humane Society for other resources, including how to make a pet evacuation kit. 

The Girls Gone Green hopped aboard the Matanzas Riverkeeper’s Litter Gitter with Captain Adam Morley on Aug. 31. It was a pre-planed G3 Affair, but the cleanup just so happened to take place right before our coastline was to be impacted by Hurricane Dorian. So, we went out to look for trash in the waterways before the storm hit – which could potentially take litter out to sea. 

The Litter Gitter II is special because it enables volunteers to pick up trash from marshes and islands unreachable by land. The Litter Gitter is the waterway cleanup division of North Florida Coastal Caretakers. Morley is the current chair for The Litter Gitter committee – a community project to collect data on the litter removed from our local waterways. 

The Litter Gitter II has collected more than 5,000 pounds of trash since April (and counting)!

Our cleanup area was the Salt Run in the Matanzas waterway near St. Augustine, Florida. 

We collected several cups, bottles, cans and bags today along with clothing items — a pair of pants, a flip flop and a visor. We even helped tow and secure a piece of a floating dock ahead of the impending storm.

We also spotted tons of wildlife, including bottlenose dolphins, egrets, ospreys, turtles and Roseate spoonbills.
The wildlife highlights just how important it is to keep waterways debris-free so they don’t mistakenly ingest bits of polystyrene foam or micro plastics or become entangled in marine debris such as fishing line, rope or nets.

If you missed the cleanup but would still like to support the Litter Gitter’s mission, you can make a donation.  If you’d like to organize a private cleanup for friends, family or co-workers, email jessica@matanzasriverkepper.org.

A big “thank you” to all of the volunteers who came out and to the Litter Gitter group for being so awesome! 

We raised a ruckus at River Ruckus Aug. 24! The festival is an annual event presented by the St. Johns Riverkeeper and Riverside Arts Market to celebrate the St. Johns River. 

The Girls Gone Green had a huge presence as we spread out to include a make your own t-shirt bag and grain bag sewing demo area. Reusable bags for the win! There are so many options for reusable shopping bags out there. Interested  in making your own t-shirt bag? It's super easy and best of all, no sew! Here's a tutorial. We decided to sew some grain bags on site to raise awareness for our Riverside Arts Market bag share program and using reusable shopping bags. 

There were several river-related activities throughout the day including free boat rides and a cleanup of the Riverwalk. 

​The St. Johns Riverkeeper once again this year had sweet reusable silicone cups for sale. Sweetwater Brewing Company, based in Atlanta, GA, was the featured brewery for the day. Sweetwater teams up with riverkeeper and water alliance groups to help raise funds. After all, you can't make beer without water, the brewery states. They even have a seasonal beer, Costa Kick Plastic Pilsner, a collaboration with Costa Sunglasses to raise awareness about plastic pollution!

The mission of the St. Johns Riverkeeper is to be an independent voice that defends, advocates, and activates others for the protection and restoration of the St. Johns River. The nonprofit organization is making strides in raising awareness about critical issues facing the river, including toxic algae and fertilizers to the threat of stormwater flooding. 

The St. Johns river is a brackish river, meaning it's a mixture of salt and freshwater. It's not unusual to see dolphins or jellyfish swimming in the river. It's also the largest river in Florida and one of the few rivers in the United States that flows South to North. ​

We love our volunteers! Are you interested in volunteering at one of our upcoming events? We'd love to have you!

We have several opportunities available depending on your interest. We will be setting up another grain bag sewing night soon! Even if you don't sew, we could use help prepping the bags. Come table an event with us and learn more about our organization!

We have some upcoming clean ups on the first Saturday of the month at Riverside Arts Market (715 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32233) or at one of Keep Jacksonville Beautiful's International Coastal Cleanup sites. The annual Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup is Saturday, Sept. 21. The GGG will once again be site captains  at Riverside Park, located at 753 Park St., Jacksonville, FL 32204. The cleanup will take place from 9-11 a.m.

If you don't live in the area, see if there's an existing ICC cleanup near you, or start one and join people from around the world as we clean up litter Sept. 21!
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Email the GGG volunteer coordinator, Alicia Smith, at alicia@thegirlsgonegreen.com for volunteer opportunities. 
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Good times! We had a fabulous night turning grain bags into reusable shopping bags Aug. 13 at Tabula Rasa Brewing!! Thank you to the brewery for letting us use their space for this event again. They’ve been so supportive of our project and we always have tons of fun!

Shoutout to all the volunteers who donated their time and skills to making these bags that will be donated to the Riverside Arts Market for The Girls Gone Green/RAM bag share program. We couldn’t make this happen without YOU! The bag share program encourages consumers to use reusable bags over plastic. 

If you would like your own grain bag bag, it's time to get crafty! Ask your local brewery if they have any grain bags they'd be willing to donate to you for your project. (another tip: we also like to use discarded grain bags for cleanups in place of trash bags) You could even use a pet food bag. There are tons of instructions online! Here's the one we ended up using: www.communitychickens.com/diy-chicken-feed-sack-tote

Make a bag for yourself or a friend, or if you'd like to donate your handmade bags to the Riverside Arts Market, we'd be thrilled to have them! Just drop them (or any unwanted reusable bag – new or used) in one of the bag share bins any Saturday during market hours (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) or consider donating them to your local farmers market.

We will keep you posted on our next sewing night. We are always looking for volunteers. You don't need to know how to sew; we are looking for bag preppers and awesome people to hang out with, too! Don't worry, we'll put you to work!

​Together we can and will make a difference! 💚🛍🛍🤗

We kicked off our first much-needed cleanup in and around the parking lot where the Riverside Arts Market takes place on Saturdays in Jacksonville, FL!

Our first cleanup took place Aug. 3 and we collected tons of cigarette butts, straws, bottles, cups, a beanbag, signs and even a pair of undies. We will be holding cleanups on the first Saturday of every month. Our next cleanup will be Sept. 7. Volunteers needed! We will provide all supplies. Just swing by The Girls Gone Green tent to pick up a bucket, gloves and a grabber. 

Buckets and grain bags have been donated by local breweries and eateries. After the trash is collected in buckets, it's dumped into grain bags. By using grain bags instead of garbage bags, we are reusing an item that would normally be trashed – much better than using a fresh, clean garbage bag! Thank you to The Cleanup Cruiser for lending us their cleanup supplies. We even had little grabbers for the kiddos and loved seeing their excited faces as they helped pick up trash. Get youth involved whenever you can – they truly want to help and they are our future!

All litter has the potential to make it into our waterways. Remember, trash travels! Here in Jacksonville, we are lucky to have our beautiful St. Johns River​, and the Riverside Arts Market is situated on it. We want to catch trash before it collects on the coastline or floats out to sea. 

Would you like to get involved? Plan on coming to the next cleanup! You don't have to dedicate a huge portion of your day – every little bit helps. RAM takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. but we will be set up early. You can come cleanup before the market starts or stop by throughout the day. 

RAM is located at 715 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32204. The next cleanup will be Saturday, Sept. 7. Questions? Email alicia@thegirlsgonegreen.com. 

We are proud to have brought the very first Veg Fest to Jacksonville almost ten years ago! Veg Fest got bigger and better each year and always exceeded our expectations. Thank you NORTHEAST FLORIDA for all the love and support you have shown our festival over the years, we truly are grateful!  

Since the festival’s inception in 2010, we have seen positive change being made in our community as people continue to build happier and healthier lives based on what’s presented at each festival.

We will no longer present our annual event, The Northeast Florida Veg Fest, but will be creating a unique festival with its own energy, a special event for our community to enjoy.

We did not come to this decision lightly. Back when we started Jacksonville’s first Veg Fest, there weren’t many festivals of its kind. Now, there are several to be found almost everywhere – which is absolutely amazing! 

Since another group launched their own veg fest a couple of years ago, bringing two similar events to Riverside Park, we have decided to pass the torch to that group of organizers. Knowing that a veg fest will continue in the area makes this tough decision much easier. 

Building something and creating it from the ground up takes time, passion and persistence…we are ready to do this again and we hope you will support our event but above all else, enjoy it!

Details about the new event will be announced soon!

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to ensure a successful and fun event these past years. We will never forget everyone’s dedication and drive to bring lasting change to the community we call home.
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On April 20 we attended a special Earth Day at the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) in Jacksonville, FL. The Girls Gone Green had a kid's craft where children could make an upcycled craft: a wallet from a juice carton, a bird feeder from the bottom of the carton or a bookmark from recycled paperboard products (think cereal and tissue boxes).

The market gave away some squash and zucchini plants grown by RAM Market Manager John Silveira. He grew the plants from heirloom seeds from one of the RAM vendors. 

There were some other special Earth Day vendors including our friends at Apple Rabbit Compost and EPIC Outreach. Apple Rabbit is a food scrap diversion service giving residents and businesses a way to send less to the landfill. Apple Rabbit currently services the Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, Murray Hill, Springfield, Downtown, and San Marco Neighborhoods of Jacksonville, FL. EPIC Animals Outreach (EPIC) is a nonprofit 501c3 that provides humane education outreach to children and adults in Northeast Florida and seeks to create a more kind and compassionate world for people, animals, and the environment through outreach, service, and rescue.

 Our 2019 No Meat March is in the books and it was a success!

​The first No Meat March took place in March of 2011. It was created to invite those curious about exploring a plant-based diet to sign a pledge for 31-days and forgo meat during the month of March. In its first year, No Meat March touted about 500 participates who were sent daily emails with recipes, information and guidance. In 2013, just two years later, No Meat March went international with little to no advertising budget. Now people from all over the world sign up for the challenge reaching thousands of homes.

This year, we had participants from all over the U.S. and the world, including No Meat Marchers from Europe, Ontario, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia!

We had some great events here in Jacksonville, FL, the birthplace of No Meat March including a veggie sushi making class and brunch with House of Leaf & Bean, a small bites tasting with Plantology, a grocery shopping on a plant-based diet workshop with Kailo Nutrition and a National Reuben Sandwich Day meet up Native Sun Natural Foods Market to eat their deli's Tofu Reuben sandwiches. 

Native Sun was a huge supporter of No Meat March this year. In addition to the National Reuben Sandwich Day event on March 14, they ran a promotion for the entire month of March. For every Tofu Reuben, Tofu Club, Teriyaki Sandwich or Beyond Meat Burger purchased from their deli during March, Native Sun donated 10 percent of the proceeds to Yoga 4 Change, a nonprofit organization that achieves meaningful change for veterans, incarcerated individuals, at-hope youth, and those recovering from substance abuse. With resounding community support, Native Sun was able to donate more than $900 to Yoga 4 Change. 

No Meat March was also heavily featured in the news this year. Even a local newscaster jumped on the bandwagon and signed the pledge for the month, detailing her journey in a series of segments as she progressed. Alex Livingston had The Girls Gone Green Founder and Executive Director Julie Watkins on First Coast Living March 21 to discuss common myths about vegan and vegetarianism. You can check out that segment here. 

Watkins was also featured on News 4 Jax March 5 where she demonstrated how to make barbecue tempeh. Watkins, who is also the owner of the all-vegan Present Moment Cafe in St. Augustine, FL, also shared how to make Alfredo Zoodles with Cherry Tomato Tapenade in the March/April issue of Edible Northeast Florida. The special "Eating Plants" edition of the magazine also featured an article on faux meats, how to stock the kitchen on a plant-based diet and vegan recipes from other local establishments. 

The Girls Gone Green Volunteer Coordinator Alicia Smith was featured on I Want a Buzz talking about the campaign. 

We thank everyone who participated and supported this year's No Meat March and look forward to next year! In the meantime, feel free to challenge yourself any month of the year. The 2019 recipes are still posted on the No Meat March website. And check out this article from The Guardian on why eating less meat is the best thing you can do for the planet in 2019 and this climate change food calculator from BBC News that determines your diet's carbon footprint.