KBB Urges Christmas Day Party-Goers at Elbow Beach to Return on Boxing Day to Help Clean Up

Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB) has issued the annual appeal for residents to help ensure that this year’s annual Christmas Day beach party at Elbow Beach will be another “Leave No Trace” event.

To help keep the beach beautiful at Christmas and throughout the holiday season, KBB Executive Director, Anne Hyde, has extended an invite to all to come back the day after the big event on Boxing Day to assist KBB with the cleanup after the big party.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Ms Hyde noted that there is no official or host for this annual Christmas morning beach party, and that “goodwill and voluntary collaboration are key ingredients for this to be a clean and safe event”.

While noting that each year “the Christmas Day party at Elbow Beach gets bigger and bigger”, she said there are stakeholders who are helping behind-the-scenes to make it another successful event.

KBB has organized the community partnership, and encourages everyone to do their part by urging party-goers to come back the day after on Boxing Day for the cleanup from 10am to 2pm next Tuesday, on December 26th.

She noted that the Coral Beach & Tennis Club will allow people to park at Horizons property, and St Paul’s Anglican Church volunteers will be on hand on Christmas Day to help with free parking. Any donations to the church will be gratefully accepted.

Once again KBB will put dozens of extra trash bins down on the beach as well as in the parking lot to capture all the picnic debris. On Boxing Day, KBB volunteers will return to the beach to carry the bagged trash and bins up the steps to the parking lot.

Last year, there was 2,000 pounds and all the glass bottles and metal cans were successfully separated for recycling. The Department of Parks waste collection team will truck away the bagged trash, so that as quickly as possible the beach can become spotless for the remainder of the holiday period. Party-goers are urged to bring an extra trash and recycling bag from home, and do their part to keep our beautiful beaches litter-free over the holidays.

Ms Hyde added: “Christmas Day at Elbow is the closest thing Bermuda has to a ‘Leave No Trace’ event. I am so happy that this crowd is respectful of their surroundings and, when there are plenty of bins, no one litters. KBB would like to thank its community partners who have come together to provide all the ingredients for a clean and safe beach party.”

Those stakeholders include General Manager Nik Bhola at Coral Beach & Tennis Club, Horizons Manager Chris Evans, Rev Anthony Petit at St Paul’s Anglican Church and his team of parking volunteers at Horizons, Parks Officer Claudette Baisden and the Parks waste collection team, and Police Constable Krishna Singh, who is the Community Action Team officer for Paget.

Thousands of people attended the Christmas Day party last year. And on that note she said: “The Department of Parks cannot be expected to do it all especially during the holidays, so KBB has willingly stepped in to help with community service.”

For those who are planning to go to the public beach at Elbow for Christmas Day, you are urged to assist this year “by helping to clear the beach of all litter and debris”.

“Use the trash bins. If the bins are full, take your trash home with you. Do not block the entrance road. Park at Horizons. Come back the next day and join KBB’s Boxing Day Cleanup from 10am to 2pm. Everyone is asked to do their part.”