This week, Tampa's "Litter Skimmer" trash boat is celebrating one year on the water.
The boat operates eight hours a day, four days per week, picking up floating trash along the Hillsborough River, Davis Islands, and the Bay.
The Litter Skimmer launched last year as part of the "Keep It Clean, Tampa" initiative. Since it's inception, the Little Skimmer has:
- Been on the water for a total of 841 hours
- Collected 40,216 pounds of trash (20.01 Tons)
- Generated 9,645 KWh of electricity from the trash collected.
The vessel also received an Urban Excellence Award last February in the Public Sector Project category.
The Litter Skimmer gathers debris from the water and onto a conveyor belt. It is then pulled into a storage bin where it can later be discarded properly.
According to the Ocean Conservancy, the top contributor to marine debris is single-use, or disposable plastic products, including container caps and lids, beverage bottles, plastic bags, food wrappers, cups, plates, cutlery, and drinking straws.