Welcome to Wrightsville Beach, the first smoke-free beach in North Carolina!!! We worked hard to make it happen and we're "thumbs up" happy about it! I'd like to express my personal gratitude to everyone who took the time to write the NC legislature asking them to oppose SB703 and preserve our smoke-free outdoor spaces. Thank YOU so very very much!!
Ok... so onto last night's record low clean up... what? wait... what's that? Yup, I said it (again). Record low cigarette butt count. My friend Tracy and I did a 20 minute beach clean up while our kids played. The two of us together picked up 14 cigarette butts at Access 39.
Curious about how this compares to past clean ups at Access 39?
I have always believed that smoke-free beach ordinances help reduce cigarette litter... but to see it happening already... I'm thrilled!!
On another note, sea turtle nesting season is upon us again! (yay!) That means the WB Sea Turtle Project Volunteers will be spending their early mornings walking the beach in search of turtle tracks. As they walk the beach, many volunteers pick up litter. Since 2009, they have removed 2,284 bags of trash from Wrightsville Beach. You can follow along with them on their blog WB Keep It Clean
When Tracy found that piece of coral it made me think about how it's a lot more fun finding beautiful mementos of nature than it is to find plastics and other trash. As my friend Ginger says:
"A clean beach means a healthier ocean in which sea turtles and other life can swim and live and play freely."
20 minutes on May 16, 2013 at Access 39
Litter by weight: 3.7 oz
Cigarette butts: 14
Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 185 days:
Yesterday, I had big plans to go out to Wrightsville Beach to do a 20 minute beach clean up. BUT... with the public hearing being the previous evening and an overcast dismal day... I just couldn't find the motivation to go. UNTIL... I picked up the phone and called my friend Tracy. Thanks to Tracy offering to meet me at the beach... I made it to Wrightsville Beach to do our 124th beach clean up!!
SO... big plans? You ask. (right) Not long ago, as I saw my friend Sara who writes The Daily Ocean blog-- aka my inspiration for "Our Daily Ocean"-- was coming up on her 100 clean up countdown to her 365 non-consecutive day goal of collecting, weighing and documenting beach trash in Santa Monica... I thought "wouldn't it be cool if we did a joint clean up on her 265th?" A way to kick off the countdown and pay homage to the work she's done-- over 970 lbs of trash removed from her beach-- and the community she's grown through her Daily Ocean efforts.
Part of her community efforts are getting people involved in cleaning up our world by asking them to contribute to her Community Collection. Take 20 minutes and report what you find to Sara. It's easy and a great lesson in what we can do when we work together collectively. My contribution to Sara's community collection is a whopping 240 lbs of trash removed from Wrightsville Beach!!
Before heading out to Wrightsville Beach, I was talking to Sara about a number of things including the recent voting down of proposed ordinance to ban smoking on Wrightsville Beach. As our conversation ended, I asked Sara if she would do me a favor and count the cigarette butts she finds during her 20 minute clean up. Santa Monica being a smoke-free beach was tugging at me. I've done two cleanups with Sara and I never recall picking up any cigarette butts. I needed to have my curiosities settled..
Last night, I went to Wrightsville Beach with my friend Tracy. On an overcast day with cool winds and a light drizzle, we picked up 458 cigarette butts in 20 minutes.Are you ready?? Sara picked up 10. TEN!!!! 10 cigarette butts in 20 minutes!! Our average is 17 PER minute!! What do you think that means?? My daughter has an opinion. (...and I'm going to have to agree with her.)
So as the outcome of the WB public hearing has given me renewed focus on this issue and a clear sense of direction... Sara will also start a new chapter of The Daily Ocean. She writes:
But here's what Danielle and I came up with after talking yesterday. We're stepping up our collaboration. I wish we'd thought of this earlier, but I'm thrilled about the idea going forward.
I will count how many butts I collect on my 20 min. cleanups and keep the tally for my last 100.
So far, the difference is just staggering.
I collected 10 cigarette butts in 20 min. last night.
Danielle collected 458.
How about a re-vote B.O.A.? Cause I can tell you, that after 100 of these comparisons, if you have a heart, you'll be ashamed of yourself for turning away from the action neccesary to enact a ban.
Yesterday afternoon, I packed up the back of my car with a year and a half's work at Wrightsville Beach. 122 non-consecutive days of cleaning up my local beach and documenting the cigarette litter problem filled the back of my car with 40,827 cigarette butts.
I headed out to the beach to do a couple of interviews and a beach cleanup before the Wrightsville Beach public hearing on the proposed smoke-free beach ordinance. I had a chance to share what we've done at Wrightsville Beach and why a smoking ban on the beach strand is important.
Once I finished with the interviews, I did a quick 20 minute beach clean up. As usual, I picked up everything I found. I originally had plans of counting what I picked up at the beach before the public hearing... but decided that having picked up nearly 41,000 was sufficient to show how bad the problem really is. I went to the public hearing full of hope and optimism with my family and a community of supporters wearing blue.
The hearing was absolutely AMAZING. Seeing the community come together was so inspiring and I'm so grateful to be a part of it. During the hearing there were so many people that spoke out in support of a Smoke-Free WB... so many people that there wasn't enough allotted time for everyone to speak!! We came prepared with facts and research to back up what we were asking the WB Board of Alderman to support. I even offered this: I have committed myself to this problem and be assured that I stand here with you to help begin fixing this problem. I offer my support in helping educate, enforce, promote and publicize the smoke-free ordinance.
Photo courtesy: Tracy Carr
While the opposition, was scarce and comments were purely opinion driven... and fewer than 10 people opposing the ban... the WB Board of Alderman voted 3-2 against banning smoking on the beach strand. Of course, I'm frustrated by this because it is obvious that last night democracy failed at Wrightsville Beach. (Democracy failed because supporters outnumbered those opposing by 10-1.... nearly 1200 people wrote the alderman expressing their support and 402 Wrightsville Beach residents wrote in support of the proposed ordinance. If you're wondering, one of the new board members was elected into office with 320 votes.)
I am particularly disheartened by the disrespectful comment made by Alderman Mayor Pro Tem Susan Collins in reference to the 40,827 cigarette butts we have removed from the beach. When giving her address to the public before the vote she said,
I wonder if Ms. Collins has any idea the amount of time and effort we put into helping keep WB clean? I wonder if she understands the amount of time and energy put in by ALL of the other volunteers that come out to help keep WB clean and beautiful? We may not live on WB, but trust me... if WE (Big Sweep volunteers, Surfrider, Keep It Clean, adopt an access volunteers, boy scouts, etc) didn't do it... no one else would.
Photo courtesy: Ocean Cure
I am grateful and have so much respect for Mayor Cignotti and Alderman Sisson who sat as elected officials and voted as the voice of the majority. I thank them for doing their jobs as elected officials. I have so much gratitude for this community... locally and globally. Those who stood with us and those who sent in their support via emails and letters to the board... including the North Carolina American Lung Association.
Photo courtesy: Ocean Cure
Please know that as much as I am disappointed... I am empowered more than ever. This is not a roadblock. This is an opportunity to do more.
20 minutes on March 8, 2012 at Access 16
Litter by weight: 7.3 oz
Cigarette butts: 425
Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 123 days:
On Thursday, my kids and I met our friend Ginger at Wrightsville Beach access 36. Access 36 is our family's adopted beach access and now the place where we picked up the 40,000th cigarette butt off of Wrightsville Beach.
Doing only 20 minute beach clean ups... it's only taken 120 days to go over 40,000. I'm committed to seeing this through... what will happen when it's 240 days?? ... no doubt that number will double. UNLESS... (in the words of the Lorax)... someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
We need to show that the public -- locals and tourists-- is in favor of a ban on smoking on Wrightsville Beach. Click here to send a letter today!
For 119 non-consecutive days, we have taken 20 minutes and done a beach clean up at Wrightsville Beach. The beach clean ups have been great learning experiences for us and have given us an opportunity to teach our kids without necessarily "teaching." Besides some of the obvious things they learn through doing the beach clean ups, they've also become aware of global problems... AND... understand that we can begin to solve global problems by acting locally.
Nearly 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year. In the 119 beach clean ups that we've done at Wrightsville Beach, we have removed nearly 40,000 cigarette butts from the beach sand. Here's the problem: Not only are those littered butts a blight to such a beautiful place... they're also toxic. We're trying to help make this problem better.... won't you join us? If you're local, please mark your calendars for March 8 @ 5:45. We'd love for you ALL to come help us encourage the Town of Wrightsville Beach to become the first smoke-free beach in North Carolina.
As you all may know by now, I am very committed to helping clean up Wrightsville Beach. Right now, my focus is helping Wrightsville Beach become the FIRST smoke-free beach in NC. One may think that based on the number of cigarette butts we've picked up in 118 days (39,454)... that Wrightsville Beach going smoke-free would be a no-brainer. But (unfortunately) it's not. There are some who believe there isn't a problem. However, I beg to differ.
As Wrightsville Beach Mayor Cignotti, said in a recent interview "...if you're not going to dispose of your cigarette butt properly with a disposal container right next to you, what are you going to do on the beach? And I think we all know what happens on the beach."
On Friday, we did our 21st twenty minute beach clean up at Access 16. In fact, Access 16 is one of our most visited accesses. In December of 2010, my Brita FilterForGood Film was filmed there. After the film was screened at the Brita event at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and then subsequently aired on the Sundance Channel for 5 months... many people have asked me what happened after the town hall meeting?? (... yeah... the after is still happening.)
In the film, I say.. "What kind of difference can we make together versus being one person?" On March 8th, I hope that I can say, "Just look at the difference we made together. Together-- WE-- made this a reality."
There was a scent in the air as we walked onto the beach yesterday afternoon. My son Henri said, "It smells weird." I started to wonder if we had been away from the beach too long... BUT... as we approached the shoreline we figured out exactly where the smell was coming from...
Thousands of dead jellies lay strewn about the shoreline. My kids were completely mesmerized. How did they get here?? Why did they die?? ....and then they felt compelled to start burying them in the sand. While my kids were busy examining and burying jellyfish... I swept the beach for 20 minutes at Johnnie Mercer's Pier.
I forgot how enjoyable it is to go to the beach in the cooler months. During the summer months, I often find it hard to just sit back and do nothing. In the summer, a walk to the shoreline ends with me making several trips to the trashcan. BUT... now... it's different. There are few people on the beach and fewer people means a lot less litter than during the hot summer months. I can relax. I can take time to not think about anything but the waves, the sand, the birds.... my kids :)
My kids are pretty awesome. I would gladly admit that they are the driving force behind nearly everything I do. It's true... I want to help make this world a better place for them. ....And through doing that they learn how to live connected and in "harmony" with the world. Through this litter project, my kids have learned about how personal responsibility (or irresponsibility) impacts our world.
I had to explain to my kids yesterday, that as much as we pick up cigarette butts... because somewhere around 4.5 trillion are littered every year... we will never be able to get them all. To explain to them how large of a number that is... I shared with them (a scaled down version) of an interesting calculation from my friend Harry of The Flotsam Diaries:
A cigarette butt is about 1" long. The distance from the earth to the moon is 238,000 miles -- 15.1 billion inches. 5.5 trillion cigarettes are made each year. If even 90% were disposed of properly, enough cigarette butts are littered to reach the moon once every 10 days.
Every time we do a beach clean up... I post all of the pictures that I take on my Facebook page. On a photo from Day 42, Sarah N. told me about how Camel makes a cigarette that has a little plastic "flavor" pellet inside the filter. I was immediately intrigued... especially knowing that I had picked up some of the cigarettes that she told me about. So today... when we got home from Wrightsville Beach and I was counting all of the cigarette butts that we found at Access 19... you can imagine my excitement when I saw this:
I immediately put it to the side and kept counting butts... then when I finished... I opened it up:
And found the little plastic "flavor" pellet that Sarah had told me about...
Insane... right?!? ...I'm honestly at a loss for words.
Back in September, our family made the decision to adopt Access 36 at Wrightsville Beach. From August to our last clean up at Access 36-- that's 7 clean ups-- we've picked up (in order) 197, 215, 443, 434, 103, 315, and 101 cigarette butts..... that totals to a whopping 1,808 cigarette butts removed from Access 36!! Joined my my mother-in-law... today was our eighth 20 minute clean up at our adopted access... AND... I'm happy to say that the cigarette butt counts are STILL on the decline!!
"I am so impressed and inspired by her dedication to clean litter from Wrightsville Beach that I am thinking about joining her. Why not pick up cigarette butts for 20 minutes a day, two days a week?"
Since then, Ginger has been contributing to the Community Butt Count. Recently, she started picking up and counting the cigarette butts that she finds on her street. Just walking 5 houses up from hers she picked up 553 and then on another day walking 3 houses up she picked up 383 cigarette butts!!! Go Ginger!!!
One thing that we found a lot of today is straws... yes... again. (though I didn't take any photos... oops!) Every Friday, I go to yoga and after yoga I go to Tidal Creek and get a smoothie. For the past several months, I've been taking my own reusable water bottle and have them pour my smoothie in it in lieu of their compostable cups... AND... I don't take a straw. Today, a fellow smoothie lover was admiring my Life Factory glass water bottle.... so I, of course, told her all about it and said, ".... and I don't take a straw either." But... as I learned today...not everyone is like me....some people really "need" and like to use a straw. Sooo... if you're a straw lover (like the lady I met today)... then you need to hop on over to Reuseit and check out the reusable glass straws. Yup... glass straws!! Sounds crazy... but it's not. If you're unsure about the glass straws... be sure to read this post on My Plastic Free Life ;)
Oh yeah... and today we found another one of these messes....
A big mess held together by fishing line and string.
Here's the thing... yesterday, my kids and I went to Wrightsville Beach to do a 20 minute clean up.... Same beach, different day... same story. We found all the typical things we've been finding this winter... mostly cigarette butts and single use plastics.
But as we were walking... I found something that I've never seen before. I reached down to grab what looked like a piece of metal sticking out of the sand....
BUT...when I grabbed it... a whole wad of organics held together by fishing line came with it... maybe there's a special name for what I found... but I'm feeling like it's just a big "wad of irresponsibility."
For the third clean up in a row, the cigarette butt counts are still on the decline... but with the weather heating up.... it's (obviously) only a matter of time....
Like cigarette butts, a beach clean up is never complete without finding a straw. Really it never fails... even on the coldest days we find straws. Most (like this photo) are from juice boxes. A single use product in all it's glory. Throwaway container, with a plastic wrapped single use straw.... used for mere minutes and then tossed. As a parent, I get that kids dig juice boxes and they are pretty darn convenient... but it doesn't take that much longer or much effort to fill a reusable bottle with juice... seriously.
Switching gears... to good news :) Jackson Browne is to be honored with the Save Our Shores Ocean Hero Award for his social, environmental and anti-plastic activism and his ongoing dedication to ocean issues.
“This is a critical moment in our planet’s life. Plastic was a big mistake, and we need to do something about it.”
I often feel when we do beach clean ups that there's a lesson to be learned with what we find. Yesterday, while doing a 20 minute clean up at Access 43... I came across a plastic bag... it was half buried in the sand and as I got closer and went to grab it... I realized that it was starting to degrade. No longer was the plastic bag from Wal-Mart one single piece of plastic... it was breaking down into smaller pieces that had to be scooped up with the sand...
Last weekend when we met Bonnie at Wrightsville Beach... we talked about plastic bags. Through talking she started telling me about a photo she saw of a mother sea otter trying to remove a plastic bag from her pup... and when I finally saw the photo this morning... I thought... EVERYONE needs to see this photo...
Seriously, makes my heart heavy. For me that photo is another reason to always say "No Thank You" to plastic bags and to support all of the plastic bag bans that are popping up all over our country (and world)... and don't let the plastics industry fool you... recycling is NOT the answer. Did you know that about 60,000 plastic bags are used every 5 seconds??? Seriously, with billions of plastic bags used every single year... recycling is NOT the answer. The answer is to REFUSE...
Yesterday's clean up at Access 43 was our fourth clean up there. Our first was on August 9-- also our first 20 minute clean-up-- where we collected 346 cigarette butts. We went back on October 29-- the final day of voting for my Brita FilterForGood Film Project-- where we collected 265 cigarette butts. Then we made it back to Access 43 on Christmas Day where we collected 720 cigarette butts. Thankfully the numbers have dropped off and yesterday we picked up 92 cigarette butts off of Wrightsville Beach. I say thankfully with hesitation because obviously 92 cigarette butts in 20 minutes is still too many...
because when it comes to finding cigarette butts... there's always other smoking related litter that comes along with the butts... from the plastic wrap that surrounds a cigarette carton to something like this...
