More than five dozen people came out to a Saturday event to help clean up Englewood Beach.
Officials say the cleanup netted dozens of bags of trash, and more than 8500 cigarette butts. The leftover cigarette remains are the most collected bit of trash across the state on beaches, but that may be changing.
Senate Bill 218 would outlaw smoking on the sand, and could lead to fines for those who break the law. Sen. Joe Gruters authored the bill despite a judge’s ruling in 2012 that locally banning smoking on any public beaches is unconstitutional.