Get Trashed Celebrates Their 9th Birthday with Corona Sponsorship

With its fair share of restaurants, lack of public receptacles, and a flourishing tourism industry, the streets of Cruz Bay are often littered with discarded trash. In Coral Bay, debris from the local boating and fishing industry can be seen in a tangled web along the shoreline. And while this can be discouraging, one resident decided to take action and in 2015, Erin Lieb founded Get Trashed, a volunteer group dedicated to picking up debris around the island.

By gaining popularity over the years and occasionally partnering with local nonprofits such as Island Green Living and Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park, Get Trashed has made a significant impact by keeping St. John litter free.

Erin cites her daily walks into Cruz Bay as inspiration for Get Trashed.

“When I was living near Pastory nine years ago, I would walk down into town and pick up litter along the side of the road. Then one Saturday, I dedicated an entire day to trash cleanup. Afterwards, sitting at Cruz Bay Landing, I was drinking a beer with friends and people were really interested in what I was doing and wanted to come along the next time.” 

Cruz Bay is the focal point for many of the cleanups. Get Trashed also hosts monthly mangrove and beach cleanups on the wilder parts of the island. Occasionally, even kayakers and boaters will get involved to collect the trash along the coastlines. Local businesses show their support by supplying trash pickup supplies and discounted drinks for afterwards. 

A day with Get Trashed is not your typical litter cleanup because volunteers are encouraged to stay afterwards and have their own version of “Happy Hour.” Sometimes, all it takes are a few like-minded people to come together (maybe after a beer or two) to tackle a problem like this. It’s a perfect blend of helping the environment, beautifying St. John, and having a great time meeting like-minded people. 

This amazing organization is celebrating their 9th birthday this Saturday, April 13th at 10 AM.

There will be an afterparty at Upstairs Bar to celebrate nine years of Get Trashed. And some exciting news, this event will be sponsored by Corona, a beer produced in Mexico and the first beverage brand to achieve “a net zero plastic footprint globally, meaning they are recovering more plastic than they release into the world.” 

In addition to being the first beverage brand to achieve a net zero plastic footprint, Corona has pushed the boundary even further by reaching out to the public for innovative ways to reduce plastic in the supply chain and partnering with global ambassadors (Australian actor Chris Hemsworth is one) to promote worldwide going green initiatives. 

Achieving sponsorship from a pioneer conservation brand like Corona marks an incredible milestone for this local organization. It validates all the hard work Erin Lieb and her fellow volunteers have been investing into this project since 2015. A huge thanks to CC1, a beverage distribution company on St. John, for making this sponsorship possible! And many thanks to Erin Lieb and the Get Trashed volunteers for their tireless efforts in keeping our island litter-free!

I hope to see a big community turnout on Saturday, April 13th for the litter cleanup and for an ice-cold Corona at Upstairs Bar afterwards! If you want to get involved and can’t make it this Saturday, more information on future times and dates can be found here on their Facebook page.

CORONA’S IMPACT ON THE PLASTIC FREE MOVEMENT:

Imagine a World Free of Plastic: Corona Cleans Up Beaches Around the World (prnewswire.com)

WHY ARE DEBRIS FREE MANGROVES IMPORTANT ON ST. JOHN?

Reclaiming Paradise: St. John’s Mangrove Restoration Project | News of St. John (newsofstjohn.com)