The Islander: Costa Clean Ups Interview with Tonya Tallard CEO
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Tonya Tallard, CEO of Monster Restoration Equipment, traveled to South Padre Island in 2014 to find a nice place for remote work from and thought, Why not work from the beach? Born in Friendship, WI, and Raised in Pardeeville, WI, Tallard has begun to make her mark on South Padre Island and started cleaning the beach during her first two months. "I love the exercise, and I love our beach, so I started hanging out with friends who were picking up trash."
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Tallard completed her first beach cleanup within six months."I got excited about doing it because there were no beach cleanup groups or anything. I went to the city and the county and all of that." At the time, her group was small, and she named it 'SPI Picks up Bottle Caps' due to the number of bottle caps found on the beach. |
| Bucket full of bottle caps during a Costa Cleanup.
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Several of the sparks that led to her five years of work was volunteering at Sea Turtle Inc. "I got into conservation and took a Texas Master Naturalist class in Florida," said Tallard.
In 2019, Tallard officially started Costa (Spanish for shoreline) Cleanups when she realized no one would clean the areas outside of their governmental scope. "No government agency is going to clean the 26 miles." After reaching out, County Commissioner Sofia Benavides told Tallard if she wanted a clean beach, she would have to create a non-profit because there wasn't a budget for beach cleanups. |
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Dumpster full of trash picked by coastal cleanups. |
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Many obstacles have stood in the way of Costa Clean Ups, but Tallard is persistent. "My goal is to clean the areas that the government doesn't clean." One obstacle is the need for a dump truck which costs $80,000. "The city and the county have them, and they won't let us use their equipment because it's outside of the area of the city. The city has 3 miles of beach, and they're not allowed to use their equipment outside of designated areas."
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Fundraising became a necessity for Costa Cleanups to keep the beach clean, "We're not there yet, but we're just trying. Someone has do it, so I just kind of kept pushing forward. I was taking pictures and asking why is it so bad?" said Tallard.
Tallard described portions of the beach after hurricanes as devastating. "It looked like a landfill. I've seen turtles nesting in the trash." She also added the absence of trash cans past access six. "It's all ocean trash from the hurricanes or mass flooding that is coming onto the beach." One of Tallard's goals is getting an official Costa Clean Ups truck and hiring one person. "It's a lot of work trying to get some people involved and sponsors." |
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So far, Costa Clean Ups has removed 102,000 pounds of trash. "It was like night and day. Imagine if we didn't do anything? I honestly thought if we didn't do anything overtime, the beaches might become condemned." Costa Clean Up's next beach cleanup is scheduled for June 11 in honor of World Oceans Day and expects a day full of cleaning, food, and music. |
| Dumpster full of trash picked by coastal cleanups. |
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According to Tallard, Cameron County denied waiver access for the non-profit to bring vehicles to pick up trash past county access six. [Note: Cameron County Beaches charge $12 per vehicle] |
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“Costa Cleanups is dedicated to protecting the untouched beauty of the RGV. We have already removed over 102,000 pounds of trash from the beaches and waterways! Please join us to help us grow this number and continue helping our neighboring waterways.” |
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