Although the trash cans were all empty, we were so saddened and disappointed to see how much litter was left on the beach. At the tideline, there were cigarette butts being washed in and out with the tide. Under the pier was just horrible... lots and lots of plastic utensils and straws. BUT... the worst thing?? Used disposable baby diapers. By leaving diapers on the beach... it's like a double whammy. Bad for the environment and totally gross. I put used baby diapers up with feminine products and condoms on my list of the grossest things to find at the beach.
Whenever the beach is so trashed, we spend our time very focused picking up as much as we can in 20 minutes. We find ourselves not talking as much because we feel this need to get it all... knowing, of course, that there is absolutely no way that we could ever get it all. But we get what we can... and we do our best to help keep Wrightsville Beach clean and beautiful.
Every time we go to the beach, there is-- inevitably-- at least one person that says, "There sure are a lot of trashy people." BUT... what I always find amazing is that those same people who judge others... have no problem walking past a piece of litter. Hmmm.... (pause).... one thing that I have taught my kids is that if we walk by litter, then we are no different than the person who littered in the first place....
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
~William James
20 minutes on July 4, 2011 at Access 15
Cigarette butts: 257
Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 77 days:
23,374
I agree so strongly with what you said about just walking past the litter. If everyone who visited the beach picked up one piece of litter, just one piece, instead of walking past it, well we wouldn't have a problem with litter any more! One of my personal pet peeves is the people who go to the beach early in the morning with metal detectors, and walk right over litter. Ergh! If you're looking for treasure, take the time to pick up a piece of trash, too!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I think everyone goes to the beach on a "mission"... whether it be to lounge, surf, play or searching for treasures ;) ... but we can all do our part by picking up the litter that we see. ....understandably, it can be so bad at times that we could be at the beach for hours picking up after others... so I think if people just picked up 3 pieces of litter... took 5 minutes... or took 20 minutes... an amazing difference could be made :)
ReplyDelete...oh yes, and just think of the difference if people didn't litter... or even better if people stopped purchasing the products that are plaguing our world. :)
WOW!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete