Beach Santa to collect 1 millionth piece of litter

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Keeping the area beautiful is the goal of one Moncks Corner man, affectionately known as “Beach Santa,” and on Monday morning Howard Hogue will reach a milestone in his efforts to clean up litter in the community.

Hogue, or Beach Santa, began collecting litter on Isle of Palms years ago as part of his retirement. He joined the launch of a grassroots conservation group in the summer of 2018 and later connected with the South Carolina Aquarium’s conservation team to begin documenting his personal litter count.

Through his reports on the SC Aquarium’s Litter Journal, which can be found on their Citizen Science App, Hogue has participated in more than 2,160 litter cleanup sweeps. And on Monday he will have collected his one millionth piece of litter.

Hogue and beach litter cleanup volunteers will gather at Front Beach on Isle of Palms before heading out to the beach to begin collecting. Leaders and volunteers with Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew and South Carolina Aquarium, Isle of Palms city officials, and community members and conservation groups will be on hand for the event.

Removing litter from the beach isn’t his only area of focus. In recent years, Hogue has expanded his reach to collect litter from areas across the tri-county including North Charleston, boat landings in Berkeley County and roadways in Moncks Corner.

His efforts were briefly slowed earlier this year after suffering a life-threatening heart attack while cleaning up litter in North Charleston. But the medical emergency did not keep him down for long as Hogue resumed his litter patrol only weeks later.

Data from his personal documentation show Beach Santa has collected more than 277,000 smoking litter items like cigarette butts and over 201,000 items have been removed from Isle of Palms.

His actions serve as a reminder to clean up after yourself and dispose of items in the proper receptacle.