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

Plastic-Free Presentations in Greensboro & Wilmington, NC

For the past several years, I have been striving to reduce the amount of plastic that my family uses, recycles and throws away.  It's something that I was motivated to do after reading the article "Our Oceans are Turning Into Plastic... Are We?".  And then once I began doing consistent beach clean ups and documenting the (mostly plastic) litter I found on my local beach, my commitment to eliminating plastics strengthened even more.  I've been sharing bits of what I do to reduce our plastic usage and this week, I will be sharing my story and personal tips to using less plastic at two different presentations-- Greensboro & Wilmington, NC-- with author Beth Terry and plastic researcher Bonnie Monteleone!

About the presentations:

Author Beth Terry will share her journey from self-confessed plastic addict to empowered plastic-free activist and explain why we can't just recycle our way out of this mess.  She'll be joined by Wilmington mom Danielle Richardet, whose own quest to live a more plastic-free life led her to become involved in a successful campaign to keep cigarette butts off her local beach.  Danielle will tell her story and share tips on ways to get kids involved in reducing plastic use.  Special guest Bonnie Monteleone will briefly share her findings and experiences from traveling nearly 10,000 nm collecting over 200 ocean surface samples looking for plastics in four oceans.  With scientists and activists, her research looks at plastics floating in some of the most remote regions in the world and why it matters.  Beth Terry's book, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too will be available for purchase and signing at the end of the event.

Ready to learn what one person can do to be part of the solution?  Join us!

March 9: Greensboro, NC at Kathleen Clay Library from 10am - noon 

March 11: Wilmington, NC at UNCW Lumina Theater from 7-9pm

Also, the opening reception for Bonnie's art exhibit What Goes Around, Comes Around is on March 8 from 7-8 at Guilford College in Greensboro.  I saw Bonnie's exhibit back in 2011, and was completely in awe of what she created.  Read more here.

Plastic-Free: Kick the Plastic Habit

It all started about 5 years ago, when a friend of mine told me about this thing called the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch."  Great Pacific what?  Plastic ocean?!?  Curiosity took over and I began googling and read my first article about plastics-- "Our Oceans Are Turning to Plastic, Are We?"  Reading that article along with seeing the countless images of animals negatively impacted by our plastic waste set me off on the beginning of a long journey to reducing my plastic waste-- day by day or sometimes more like month by month... I worked on reducing the amount of plastic that I used.  But it wasn't something I could do alone... ok, well... maybe I could... but as I started moving past simple things like not buying bottled water, I often became stumped and had to start researching.  That's when I came across Beth Terry's blog now known as My Plastic-Free Life.  Turns out Beth had read that exact same article and just like that she "woke up to plastic."

Now years later, I'm still not done reducing my plastic-waste and I'm still not done learning "why" we should all take steps to reduce the amount of plastic we buy, use, recycle and throw away.  But, as much as I've learned over the years, to be honest... I still need reminders.  You see, I'm the type of person that when I learn something, it sticks with me... BUT... while I don't forget... I do often let the details slip my mind.  Sometimes-- especially with plastics-- when I let the details slip, I find that I'm not as strong with my commitments.  Which leads me to Beth's new book: PLASTIC FREE: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too.  

Before 2007, Beth was addicted to plastic (well, not knowingly anyway)... then that one day when she read "Our Oceans Are Turning to Plastic, Are We?" and saw a picture of decomposed Laysan albatross chick.... the reality of her plastic filled lifestyle and the consequences it had began to set in...

Photo Credit: Chris Jordan

First she was heartbroken and sad.  Then she got mad and wondered why no one was doing anything about this??  Knowing full and well that she couldn't personally go out into the middle of the oceans and clean up the plastic mess... she made the connection and realized there was one thing that she could do.  She could start with herself.  She remembered that her actions make a difference and personal changes really do matter.  In Plastic-Free, Beth discusses 9 reasons why our personal changes matter and here's one of my favorite reasons why:

 By letting others see our personal changes, we set an example of a different way to be.

It's true.  By going out into the world and doing what we do-- whether it's picking up litter, taking our own bags to the store, carrying a reusable water bottle, saying "no thank you" to single-use items like straws or having the courage to use our voices for change-- we share with others what's possible.  

But back to the details.  Sure we know there are problems with plastic...and when we start reusing, reducing and refusing it... others want to know why.  No, I'm not allergic to plastic.  But the reasons I choose to refuse and reduce the amount of plastic our family uses is summed up quite nicely in Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You can Too.  Of course, Beth goes into really great detail in her book Plastic-Free, but here's the gist of why we should start and/or continue efforts to reduce the amount of plastic we all use:

1. Plastic is Made from Fossil Sources
2. Plastic Contains Toxic Chemicals (cough BPA, Lead & Cadmium, Toxic Flame Retardants)
3. Plastic Manufacturing Plants Harm Workers and Pollute Communities
4. Plastic is NOT Biodegradable
5. Plastic Pollutes the Ocean, Harming Both Wildlife and Humans
6. Plastic Pollution Doesn't Just Come from "Litter Bugs"  (nope, sure doesn't)
7. Plastic Recycling Doesn't Close the Loop  (it's actually downcycling)

So what are we waiting for? Let's start a plastic-free revolution.  Let's imagine a world free of plastic pollution and create that world.  We can do it.

...and Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry is the perfect tool to start your journey to a life with less plastic.  To learn more about Beth's book, the praise it has received and how to buy her book, please go here.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time.  We are the change that we seek." 

~Barack Obama