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 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.
Video Credit: Carrie Resch, The Girls Gone Green
Video Credit: Carrie Resch, The Girls Gone Green
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!
Email the GGG volunteer coordinator, Alicia Smith, at alicia@thegirlsgonegreen.com for volunteer opportunities.