Our Daily Ocean: Day 83

With the swell coming in on Thursday evening, the beach... err... the ocean was full of surfers.  The weather was perfect... still warm from the day... and the ocean rolling with full waves was even better.

  During our 20 minute clean up, I couldn't help but notice that the majority of cigarette butts were wet.  Of course, wet cigarette butts make me think about the toxins that are released as soon as the littered butt hits the water... :(

The other day, my aunt called me to tell me about a boat cruise they went on in Lake Okoboji.  She was so frustrated because when they stopped to go for a swim, she saw smokers throw their cigarette butts in the lake!!  BUT... good news!  My aunt took the time to write the company that did the cruise.  Here's a bit of what she had to say:  

"Cigarette butts are made of plastic and are not biodegradable. The filter is designed to trap toxins so when it hits the water, those toxins are released into the water. Which also means that they are no friend to the fish swimming below the surface. If you could PLEASE have ashtrays available and let riders know that if they have to smoke, not to throw them overboard. Thank you."

I'm happy to report that my aunt received an email from the company letting her know that they were "appalled that passengers would think it is okay to throw ANY type of trash into the Lake" and the issue was going to be addressed immediately.  (YAY!!!) 

My aunt isn't the only one paying attention to the cigarette butt litter problem.  Daedra of Strawesome did a 20 minute beach clean up at Lake Michigan and picked up a pile of litter that included bottle caps, straws and over 300 cigarette butts!  She writes:

"It was actually hard to stop picking them [cigarette butts] up because they were everywhere, but my back hurt so I had to stop.

I forwarded my findings to the park office and requested they install cigarette butt collection receptacles. If you saw piles of 300 cigarette butts on the beach you’d be grossed out, right? So, why is it ok when they’re spread out all over the land? It’s not!"

YES!!  Since I've picked up over 25,000 (yup! milestone!!).... I completely agree!!  High 5 to Daedra!!  Check out her entire post:  Just Beachy

Soooo... have you ever wondered what over 25,000 cigarette butts looked like?? (ok, me neither) But here they are...  25,180 cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC.  Thank you thank you thank you to all of my family and friends who have joined us out at WB and helped remove all this nastiness from the beach...

20 minutes on August 4, 2011 at Access 25

Litter by weight: 15.7 oz

Cigarette butts: 294

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 83 days:

25,180

Our Daily Ocean: Day 50

On August 9, 2010... I, along with my 3 children, went to Access 43 to do our first 20 minute clean up at Wrightsville Beach.  Sunday, we headed back to that same spot to do our 50th clean up!!

Since that first day in August... we've removed more than 57 pounds** of litter from Wrightsville Beach!!!  (**On day 13, the litter wasn't weighed.)  And now... the cigarette butt tally has passed the 15,000 mark! (whoa!!)

My friend Sara--who writes The Daily Ocean blog and inspired me to do these 20 minute clean ups-- has collected 765.5 lbs of litter off of the beach in Santa Monica in 205 days!!  Sara and her husband Garen are currently in Chile getting ready to head out to the South Pacific gyre with 5 gyres.  Be sure to check in with The Daily Ocean to see what's happening as they prepare for the expedition.

Once we finished with our 20 minutes, I met Katie Harden of WWAY to talk about cigarette butt litter and The BaitTanks that have been installed at Wrightsville Beach!  Check out the story that also includes Mark Armen and Mayor of WB, David Cignotti. 

Creative Solutions to Endless Pollution

20 minutes on March 13, 2011

Litter by weight: 1 lb 11.3 oz

86 cigarette butts

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 50 days:

15,050

Our Daily Ocean: Day 49

For the first time in a LONG time... on Saturday...while I was picking up litter at Access 16... a man-- who happened to be walking his dog-- stopped and said, "Are you picking up cigarette butts??.... thank you." :D

Of course, if you've been reading this blog... I pick up cigarette butts and a whole lot of other litter off of my local beach.  The reason I have focused so much on cigarette butts is because there are SOOOOO many.  I feel like if we can change the mindset of this habit to flick cigarette butts to the ground... then it can help create even more consciousness to the entire litter problem plaguing our world.

Looking at the photo above... do you see what I see??  Condensed and trapped toxins in the cigarette filter.  To quote my friend Mark:  "Once that filter hits water-- a stream, a lake, a river, an ocean-- those toxins leach out."  Those toxins happen to be deadly to fish... and that's "no bueno!!"

On Wednesday, my friend Mark-- creator of The Bait Tank-- visited us.  While he was here, he got to see the two Bait Tanks that are currently installed at Wrightsville Beach.  Here's the newest one... donated to the Town of Wrightsville Beach by Butch and Bonnie.  YAY!!!

More Bait Tank news:  Mark is a finalist in the Green Awards!!  Voting is happening right now!!  Check out his video and vote everyday until March 27 at https://www.thegreenawards.com/Default.aspx?v=74

20 minutes on March 12, 2011
Litter by weight: 1 lb 2.1 oz
Cigarette butts: 103

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach in 49 days:

14,964

It Starts With Me

Over the weekend, my husband and I went to the Sundance Film Festival courtesy of the Brita FilterForGood Film Project.  We had such a great time at the Festival... saw some really great films-- The Last Mountain, Win Win, Higher Ground, Being Elmo and The Lie... made new friends and of course, got to see the film that was inspired by my efforts at Wrightsville Beach, NC.  To say that I LOVE it... could be an understatement ;)  I am so grateful that Destin completely saw and understands who I am and was able to convey (better than I could have ever imagined) who I am and why I do what I do....

Destin, Brett and Ron are remarkably talented... and while I may be no critic... I can certainly critique myself... and I've watched the film so many times and haven't once went to critique anything.  I can only keep saying that they made everything "so beautiful." Also, the music-- which I've been referring to as beautiful, inspiring and hopeful-- in the film was composed by Joel P. West... like Destin, Brett and Ron... I'd invite him to our home anytime.  He's part of The Tree Ring who will be releasing their album in February.  Check them out :)

My friends Sara and Mark are in the film along with my family. Please take the time to learn about what they're doing :)  You can find Sara at The Daily Ocean and Mark at The Bait Tank.

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to vote for my project back in October and for all of the support (and friends that I've made) since...