First Horizon Bank presents The Studios of Key West with a check to support Sea Level Stories, by artist Jane Baldridge, which is being presented in partnership with FIRM (Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe). Planned for October 2022, the exhibition will be accompanied by public programs in Key West and up the Keys raising awareness of critical issues around sea level rise. 

The City of Key West wants to remind the community what is recyclable and what is not to improve our recycling rate and reduce contamination.
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Acceptable recycling items include paper, cardboard, clear, brown, or green glass bottles, plastics number 1 or 2 (Water bottles, soap, and shampoo bottles), clean aluminum foil, ferrous metals, soup cans, juice boxes, and cereal boxes.  If you're disposing of cardboard boxes, please break them down.  And used pizza boxes must have the greasy bottom torn off and put in with regular trash.

Plastic bags in the recycle bin are the number one contaminant.  If you package your recyclables in plastic, it makes them trash and contaminates the entire bin.  All of the blue bin contents will be disposed of as trash. 

When they reach the sorting plant in Pembroke Pines, plastic bags are like gum in the machines.  The plant must close the sorting machines for one or two hours daily to remove all plastic bags caught in the moving parts.  The main causes for sorting issues and jams are hoses, electrical cords, and metal hangers, which can cause fires.  None of the items that cause machine jams are recyclable. 

Other trash in the bin will also contaminate the entire load.  If the bin is contaminated with food, Styrofoam, or trash, it has to be picked up by the trash truck and cannot go into the recycling truck.  Plastic pump bottles can be recycled but are sure they're clean and disposed of the pump mechanism into the regular trash.
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Remembering these simple tips helps the community reach its recycling goals and keeps Key West beautiful.

Key West City staffers, elected officials and the dedicated volunteer Ploggers gathered nearly 200 pounds of trash on Earth Day, despite a variable deluge. They gathered at the Peace Covenant Church on Flagler and spread out from there. In two hours – mostly in pouring rain -- they had collected 191 pounds of trash, another 67 pounds of recycling and four gallons of cigarette butts.

The group of 30 included Mayor Teri Johnston, Commissioner Gregory Davila, three Key West Ambassadors and 12 City employees.

The following day, the Key West Sea Turtle Club descended on the nature beach off Atlantic Blvd. That group collected 290 pounds of trash off the beach and out of the mangroves.
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“It’s wonderful to see our community pull together to keep Key West beautiful,” said City Manager Patti McLauchlin.

These efforts are part of a push to involve the community to keep Key West beautiful. In addition to the Early Bird cleanups, the City has kicked off an Adopt-A-Spot program and Mayor Teri Johnston has reconvened the Beautification Committee. 

It's time again for one of the more spectacular natural events in the Keys -- turtle nesting season.
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The City of Key West wants to remind residents and visitors to keep the lights out near the beaches so that turtles can lay their eggs in peace and the hatchlings can find their way safely to the water.

Hatchlings naturally run toward light, so we're asking that anyone living near the beach turn off the outdoor lighting and close your shades or curtains and if at all possible. If the lights cannot be completely doused, try shielding them so that they don't shine toward the beach. Baby turtles are drawn to light after they hatch from their sandy nests. Porch lights can be fatal to these hatchlings.

Key West's beaches are closed to the public each night at 11 p.m., and this time of year it's vital that people heed the law. April 15th through October 31st is turtle nesting season -- that time of year when these magnificent creatures crawl up out of the sea to deposit their eggs in the sand.

The organization Save-A-Turtle has, in past years, seen evidence that females have crawled up on the beach and returned to the water without laying any eggs. Turtle watchers suspect these "false crawls" may be the result of human interference.
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Although it's tempting to try and witness this rare and wonderful aspect of our ocean environment, it's not worth the consequences. Nesting beaches have diminished as development has increased over the past several decades. It's crucial that we do all we can to ensure safe nesting beaches in Key West.