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Photo of trash strewn along seawall raises environmental concerns

In the photo, you can see piles of styrofoam cups, plastic bottles and other kinds of trash washed up on the seawall steps.

Corpus Christi (KIII news) — A photo is making the rounds on social media in the Coastal Bend -- it shows the City's Bayfront seawall in a less than flattering light.

In the photo, you can see piles of styrofoam cups, plastic bottles and other kinds of trash washed up on the seawall steps.

"That photo was taken shortly after a thunderstorm back in 2013," said Neil McQueen, vice chairman of the Surfrider Foundation.

McQueen is with the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, an organization dedicated to the protection of our oceans, waves, and beaches. The photo was easily identifiable to him. He even knew who snapped the photo -- a retired director of Corpus Christi's Downtown Marina.

"So during storms what you get is all the storm drains are flushed out by the rains, especially with a gully washer like we had recently. And then the wind actually blew those cups back up on to the seawall right here," McQueen said. "So that was kind of the worst case scenario, and it has improved since then."

You can see that improvement if you look at the same area today. However, right across the street, a City Parks & Recreation Department employee said he picks up a lot of litter, and much of it is discarded styrofoam cups. His tractor was filled to the brim with Friday morning's trash haul.

While there was some floating debris in a few areas along the seawall, McQueen said the bigger picture is the continued usage of styrofoam cups and disposable plastic bottles.

"If a retailer or a restaurant is providing the plastics, then they are part of the responsibility for educating their customers and making sure that there are alternatives," McQueen said.

McQueen said some of the more prominent corporations are taking small steps toward looking at alternatives. He credits smaller businesses such as Eleanor's Coffee Bar for making environmentally sound decisions.

"All of our stuff starting off was pretty common sense. We recycle, we use biodegradable plastics wherever we can," said Jessica Gignac, owner of Eleanor's Coffee Bar.

Gignac said it does not take much to help our environment.

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