It's been about three weeks since Alabama has reopened. With this, I have seen my town become absolutely crowded, teeming with foreign license plates and eager vacationers in every corner of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.
Our town thrives off of the tourism our beaches bring, and while it can sometimes be overwhelming, we are so grateful for the revitalization these vacationers bring to our community! Following the COVID-19 shutdown, many of our local businesses, as well as the people who work for them, absolutely need this tourism. Many of the restaurants here, in fact, are only open during the summer time, and with nearly 7 weeks of revenue completely gone, we're trying to pick up the pieces and catch up right now.
We need you here! But we also need you to be respectful while you're here, especially as our town is suddenly at full capacity for the first time in months, showing record numbers in tourist travel.
My friend's mother, Theresa Daniels, works for the city of Orange Beach and has picked up the trash herself. When asked what she found left from the vacationers she explained, "147 chairs, tents, boogie boards, umbrellas, diapers, hundreds of aluminum cans, a lot of large and small glass bottles, small plastic lunch bags, capri suns and the straw wrappers, shopping bags, umbrella plastic wraps, beach toys, and a vandalized turtle nest... in one night." On a separate night they also found a blood donation bag and blow-up kiddie pools, and on Sunday they had to unload the truck at midnight because they were too full to pick up anymore trash left on the beach.
I've walked along the beach several times throughout the past week, only to find myself looking at all of the empty plastic bottles, pool noodles, and abandoned beach balls settled in the stand instead of the picturesque gulf coast scenery.
There's a reason the "Leave Only Footprints" slogan is scattered everywhere around our town - in order to preserve the beauty of our area and maintain the wildlife, we have to keep the trash out of the water and off of the beaches! Please, always bring a trash bag with you, and always take it when you leave. We love living in this beautiful area, and we know you love vacationing here, so please do everyone a favor and just be respectful. If you can't do that, we don't want or need your economic contributions; you're doing more harm than good.
