Good News Notes:

“Visit St. Pete/Clearwater and Keep Pinellas Beautiful have teamed up with local TikTok influencer Caulin Donaldson for a new campaign aimed at getting visitors to pick up their beach trash.

“I feel so incredibly grateful that I am the one that gets to spread this message with the county,” said Donaldson, 25. “That we’re working together to do this.” ​

In December 2019, Donaldson began a series of TikTok videos that showed him picking up trash at the beach for 500 straight days. The social media influencer, who lives in Redington Beach, has amassed 1.4 million followers. 

“It really started taking off in the summer of 2020,” he said. “It was just really, really awesome to see how many people genuinely were passionate about this mission and this message.”

Caulin said he got the idea to make beach cleanup videos while renting jet skis at St. Pete Beach.

“It was just crazy to me that people would come out there and be like, ‘This is my favorite beach in the world,’ and then they left all of their trash in the sand when they went home,” he said. “It really did feel personal when people come and visit this place and treat it like they don’t care about it.”​

Caulin said he funneled his frustration into something positive, and picking up beach trash on TikTok has since become his full-time job….”

View the whole story here: https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2022/03/30/trash-beach-cleanup-campaign