YORKTOWN, Va. — Businesses are on board to keep Yorktown Beach clean.
Ben & Jerry's management came up with an idea to get litter off the beach and out of the waters. It's called Ben and Jerry's a clean Yorktown Beach Initiative.
Six businesses are teaming up as part of this initiative. Starting Wednesday, you can grab a bucket from any of the businesses, collect some trash, bring it back and get something special in return.
The treats include a free cookie from Carrot Tree, 25% off at Water Street Grille & Riverwalk Restaurant, a free soft drink at Yorktown Pub, a small coffee at Dukes Italian Eatery, a free scoop of ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s and TBD from Larry’s Lemonade.
Mobjack Bay Coffee Roasters on Main Street was the first historic Yorktown business to offer this incentive. If you return a bucket of trash to them, you can get a free coffee or a beverage of choice.
Ben & Jerry's manager Daniel Hayden said it's a permanent effort.
“It gets people going out and getting involved in the local community,” Hayden said. “Activity breeds activity. Hopefully, it won't stop here.”
The cause is close to Ben & Jerry's as they will also be debuting eco-friendly bamboo spoons and durable paper straws in shop Wednesday.
“As much as you want to tell people to throw trash away it ends up in the sand and water,” Ben & Jerry’s owner Bob Deramo said. “More and more people are getting involved, activity breeds activity and maybe as people see trash thrown away in the trash and not sand it's going to be better.”
There are between 50 to 60 trashcans at the beach. York County’s Grounds Maintenance Division (of their Department of Public Works) rakes the beach and performs litter pickup on the beach and parking areas regularly. The County’s contracted custodial crews empty the trash cans and pick up the litter around the cans.
“Every year over a million wildlife are impacted by the plastic in the ocean and if we can do something to prevent the trash from making it there we did our part,” Hayden said.
Ben & Jerry’s has also turned free cone day (April 9th) into free clinic day for the past 12 years. They invite people from the Lackey clinic to scoop ice cream and accept donations on their behalf.
Over the last 12 years, Ben & Jerry’s has generated over half a million dollars in rendered care.