About Us

Everyone has a role to play when it comes to keeping our waterways clean and healthy. Our Marsh Counts is a collaborative, 3-year project that provides resources and uses citizen science and education to improve the health of our salt marsh estuary. Let’s work together to reduce plastic pollution that is extremely harmful to marine life and human health. 

Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated coastal community situated on the northern end of Georgetown County and southern end of Horry County and is part of the Gullah Geechee National Heritage Corridor. The Murrell’s Inlet estuary is a multijurisdictional waterbody along South Carolina’s coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean. This salt marsh is the most economically important shellfish harvesting area on the north coast of South Carolina. However, rapid development and growth in tourism have increased the abundance of litter in and around the inlet’s once pristine estuary. The growing problem of pollution coupled with the lack of understanding of pathways to the estuary calls for a collaborative approach to ensure long-term solutions and prevention of marine debris.   

Our Marsh Counts is a three-year, community-based project that aims to create and implement a comprehensive strategy to reduce marine debris in the Murrells Inlet Watershed which extends into Horry County and Georgetown County. By forming a coalition of strategic community partners committed to collaborative plastic pollution reduction, Our Marsh Counts priorities include hosting educational programs, greening festivals and events, conducting community-wide litter sweeps with data collection and working with the business sector to develop an Inlet-Friendly Business Program, a priority action identified in the Murrells Inlet Watershed Plan and other area planning documents.