You could call us the Florida East Coast Society for Preserving Florida for Boating, Fishing, and Drinks with Little Umbrellas. Be Floridian Now is calling on all Floridians to help protect what makes Florida so fun. Unless newcomers learn that the rules for yard work are a little different here, we will spoil the reason so many of us enjoy living here.

In Florida, summer rains don’t water fertilizer in — they wash it off our lawns and into our rivers, lagoon, and ocean. The excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the water feeds algae blooms that use up oxygen, kill fish and turn the water the color of pea soup. As more and more people move to our area, the problem gets bigger and bigger.

So help us make sure everyone knows to skip the fertilizer this summer. Together, we Floridians can protect our fun by saving our rivers, lakes, and estuaries one yard at a time.

Be Floridian Now is co-branded as the east coast version of Tampa Bay Estuary Program’s original and brilliant Be Floridian program. The Tampa Bay partners graciously allowed the east coast partners to customize the Be Floridian website for Florida’s east coast. Be Floridian Now is supported by the organizations below. The program is coordinated by the Marine Resources Council.