Our Daily Ocean: Day 180

Well... it's been another long stretch between clean ups... again.  On some level, I used to feel guilty for not doing a beach cleanup at least once a week.  But as I'm committed to doing 365 non-consecutive beach cleanups at Wrightsville Beach... I know that sometimes long stretches between cleanups are going to happen... and it's ok.

I also know that sometimes I need a little motivation to get me back on the beach.  And there's no better motivation than sharing what I do with others.  On Monday, Beth Terry of My Plastic-Free Life joined me at the south end of Wrightsville Beach for a 20 minute beach clean up before our Living Plastic-Free Presentation at UNCW!  

Beth is a fantastic example of what one person can do to be a positive force for change.  She's living a life with less a lot less plastic to show what is possible.... and I'm continually inspired by her. Let me get this out there: I love Beth because she leads by example, is super encouraging and never judges.  Yup, she's my plastic-free hero that helps motivate me to do more!

During our 20 minutes, Beth and I stepped on sand spurs, picked up mostly plastics and chatted with the WB Park Ranger.  We got to talking about Kehoe Beach (in Northern California) and the amount of plastics that wash in makes it impossible to truly "clean" the beach. If you're unfamiliar with Kehoe Beach, it's worth watching this video:

Anytime I am reminded of beaches where plastics are washing in from other places... I am also reminded that Wrightsville Beach is not suffering that same fate (yet).  What we find at Wrightsville Beach is local.  What's great about that is that WE can fix that locally.  Two things I do to help are: change my personal shopping habits and beach cleanups.

Remember: 

Solutions to global problems start at the local level.  

20 minutes on March 11, 2013 at Access 43

Litter by weight: 10.7 oz
Cigarette butts: 180

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 180 days:

54,595