Clean-up efforts continue to thrive with AMPLIFY Clearwater and Ocean Allies
Amplify Clearwater has been enhancing the business environment and promoting a healthy economic climate in Clearwater since 2019. They are creating an environment where sustainability reigns and clean beaches are a primary focus.
Ocean Allies
Sheri Heliman founded Ocean Allies in 2018. The nonprofit organization provides guidance and a certification program for businesses that make eco-friendly changes, such as eliminating single-use plastic products and ramping up recycling.
“We cannot spend this amount of time on the water and not appreciate that we all have to take care of this,” Heilman says. “I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to be able to come to Clearwater Beach and say, ‘Wow, Nana used to say this was the number one beach and now we can see why.'”
From her experience running the Beachcomber and neighboring Bobby’s Bistro, Heilman knows doing the right thing is always the right thing to do, both in business and in life. Since transitioning from plastics to biodegradable products and recycling more, she has cut supplies and garbage service costs at her two restaurants.
A Perfect Partnership
AMPLIFY Clearwater Executive Vice President Kristina Alspaw, an Ocean Allies executive team member, said, “In a tourism-driven economy, businesses see that Ocean Allies’ mission protects their product — a beach that draws visitors from across the country and the world.”
There are opportunities all over the city of Clearwater for Amplify and Ocean Allies to work hand in hand.
Taste Fest is a certified ocean-friendly event hosted by Amplify Clearwater. This event brings the city together, highlights local talent and spotlights all Clearwater has to offer, and it is all done in a way that will not harm the city’s ecosystem. Bringing the two together makes perfect sense, as they both strive to create a cleaner, brighter future for Clearwater while preserving its beauty and history.
Continued Cleanup
AMPLIFY Clearwater, The City of Clearwater, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Ocean Allies and Visit St.Pete and Clearwater have joined forces to host monthly cleanups to keep Clearwater’s award-winning beaches clean.
Morning cleanups will take place on one Friday each month, from January through December. These monthly cleanups will culminate with “The Big Clean Up Clearwater 2023,” Clearwater’s largest community-wide cleanup event.
This is a week-long cleanup effort involving the Clearwater community and it will be held in a week in October this year. The monthly cleanups run from January to December as a lead up to the actual week.
The 2022 “Big Clean Up” efforts were staggering, resulting in the cleanup of 7,326.26 pounds of litter, 52 cleanup sites and 1,056 volunteers.
“We are working on a sustainable event video guide at the city and had previously engaged Kristina Park, COO of Amplify to understand her experience hosting ocean-friendly events,” Melody Yin, Sustainability Specialist with The City of Clearwater shared. “Eventually, we would love for Amplify to promote sustainable event planning to the business community.”
With Ocean Allies and AMPLIFY Clearwater rallying together to promote cleanup efforts and an overall cleaner, healthier Clearwater, 2023 will surely be a year of outstanding success.
By Meredith Biesinger.
