St Barts beaches are some of the cleanest in the Carribean!  But, just like every town, we do have a few pieces of  trash that need to be picked up – which is exactly what American John McGinn and his seven friends did.

Being regular visitors of the island, they noticed trash washing up on the shore of Grand Fond Beach while they were visiting last Thanksgiving; they vowed to come back and clean it up.  And so they did.  For two hours of November 22nd, the eight friends filled four large trashbags that they had brought from the states.

To me, I appreciate that these guys care enough about the island to do such a thing and show the initiative to put a plan in action.  On the other hand, I find it absolutely shameful that they actually had to do it.

Now, there have been some St Barts residents that have been known to leave bags filled with trash along side the road, but we have a St Barts Clean Up Day every year, in which the local kids go out and clean up with the help of adult volunteers. The fact that, in addition to an entire day devoted to cleaning-up, there was still trash to be found on our beaches!!

So, to John McGinn and his seven friends, thank you for your help in cleaning up Grand Fond Beach. For the residents of the island, let’s keep our island clean!!!