People, Planet and Profit: Stetson business and biology students take long walk on the beach

Business major Carleigh Sales and her two sisters help clean up New Smyrna Beach.
Integrative health science major Carleigh Sales and her two sisters help clean up New Smyrna Beach.

It is a picturesque Saturday morning in New Smyrna Beach—all sunlight and clear blue skies. The sand is warm and you feel seashells beneath your feet. But as you run your fingers through the sand, you see that they’re not seashells at all—rather, they are hundreds and hundreds of cigarette butts.

That is what the consumer behavior class of Michelle DeMoss, Ph.D., professor of Marketing, found during their semesterly beach cleanup—just some among the many discarded items littering our shoreline.

In Florida, we love our ocean. It is a place of peace, serenity and beauty. There, we leave behind our worries, our troubles—and, apparently, our trash.

In the 2014 Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup, over 16 million pounds of waste was found on the shorelines.

Within the Stetson community, student organizations coordinate local beach cleanups in an effort to decrease the negative impact we have on the environment. The idea of environmental sustainability is a key element of Stetson values.

These groups usually consist of students and teachers involved in science, such as the Biology Honor Society, Beta Beta Beta, and the Environmental Science club. The last group you’d expect to lead a beach-cleanup is a business class.

However, DeMoss, uniquely asserts that business and biology do mix.

“We talk about it in terms of people, planet and profit,” said DeMoss. “Consumers ultimately decide on what products are marketable, so our purchasing that product will support whatever that company’s doing, whether or not that company is being conscious of the environment.”

Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing companies have severely impacted the environment negatively. However, as consumers, we directly affect our environment in how we dispose of products.

During the cleanup, students document their findings, dividing the trash into categories and assessing the frequency of items in that category, and noting peculiar findings.

Marissa Vanover, senior marketing major, observed the abundance of small items, such as cigarette butts, candy wrappers and plastic—all of which is very harmful to the animals, especially sea turtles, who will mistake these small plastics for food.

“In class, we talk a lot about Green Marketing, and how environmentally friendly companies advertise,” said Vanover. “But do consumers even care about recycling?”

Some areas were significantly cleaner than others, which also reflects how planet and profit intersect.

“From walking around, the sand in front of hotels and residential houses were clearer and cleaner than the opening of the beach, where people walk,” said Cynthia Morgan, senior marketing major. “This has to do mainly with traffic, but I think hotels do a better job of making sure the front is cleaner because that’s what the people pay for.”

Some interesting items found during the beach cleanup included a piece of construction wood, a toy motorcycle, unpaired flip-flops, firework material and a guitar pick.

Although many discarded items are comedic in their randomness, when attributing these items to endangering the environment, “random trash” becomes a serious discussion.

“We talk about what it does to the beach, what it does to the animals, and also what it does to us,” said DeMoss. “When fish eat these little pieces of plastics, ultimately, we all are eating it. We’re a system, and our actions are all interrelated.”

When asked if student perspectives shift after the cleanup, DeMoss said it opened their eyes.

“It raises their awareness, and starts the process of questioning what’s going on so we have a positive generational impact on the environment as consumers.”

These environmental issues are not just opening the eyes of college students. Six-year-old Mia Sales accompanied her bigger sister, Stetson student Carleigh Sales, along with their little sister Emily, in this beach cleanup effort.

“When my mom told me about what people were doing to the beach, I started crying,” said the younger Sales. “I was sad, but I also felt mad at these people.” She expressed a concern over how our trash negatively affects the animals she loves. However, when asked if beach cleanups such as this one made her feel better, she shook her head.

“Only a little bit, because people still leave their trash everywhere. I want to try to make it that people come more often to clean up the beach.”

Carleigh Sales, junior integrative health science major, noted how her little sisters’ love for the beach transferred into an appreciation of the beaches’ upkeep.

“For being little girls,” she said, “they were really involved. We walked half a mile. They’re very aware for their ages. They were wearing the gloves and picking up cigarette butts. I was very proud of them.”

As regular beach-goers, picking up trash and throwing it away, whether it was your own or someone else’s, greatly contributes to the sustainability of our environment—upholding one of the most important Stetson values. Simply put, you can do a lot with just a walk down the beach.

By Veronica Faison