![Jim Stearns of Milton has been collecting trash off the beach during fishing trips in Escambia Bay. He says he can collect a truckload of garbage every weekend. [AARON LITTLE | Press Gazette]](http://127.0.0.1/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ghows-DA-5ab8ccdc-7d22-307d-e053-0100007fbf86-8eb26c9a-scaled.jpeg)
MILTON — Jim Stearns has lived in Milton 61 years, but his weekend fishing trips sometimes turn into beach cleanups.
Stearns has found crabs stuck in plastic bags and fish stuck inside other garbage, he said. Every time he collects trash from the beach he can easily fill up the bed of his truck with plastic bottles, Styrofoam cups, food wrappers, even diapers.
He expressed concern for garbage trucks going over the Escambia Bay Bridge.
“You won’t see this on Gulf Breeze beaches,” he said.
The Emerald Coast Utility Authority does have difficulties in containing every item of waste on its trucks, a spokesperson said.
“No garbage truck is completely litter proof,” ECUA Public Information Officer Jim Roberts says, “which is why we tell and plead with customers every day to bag their garbage and recycling.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton man cleans beaches during fishing trips