Our Daily Ocean: Day 156

Well, it's official.  This 156th beach clean up is a DOUBLE milestone clean up!  Taking only 20 minutes whenever we visit Wrightsville Beach, we have managed to pick up over 300 lbs of litter AND remove over 50k littered cigarette butts from Wrightsville Beach!!

Now this wasn't accomplished by myself alone.  Nope.  Most beach clean ups, I'm joined by husband and three kiddos... and from time to time I'm joined by family and friends.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who has joined us for a 20 minute beach clean up at Wrightsville Beach to help us with this effort... I'm grateful for your willingness to help, the encouragement you give and most of all your friendships.

 Want to see who has helped us and when?  Go here.  And if you want to join us to do a 20 minute beach clean up at Wrightsville Beach, I'd love it!  Feel free to message me through Facebook  or drop me an email :)

Being that this blog was inspired by my good friend Sara's The Daily Ocean, I've taken the time to weigh all of the litter we pick up (minus large items like boogie boards and chairs).  Every beach clean up we do, Sara adds the weight to her Community Collection.  As of this clean up, we've added 300 lbs 14.6 oz to The Daily Ocean Community Count (which is now I believe over 1000 lbs!).  To learn more about The Daily Ocean Community Count Collection and to get involved.... go here.

Sara and I are also still doing our cigarette litter comparisons between our two beaches.  Just for a refresher, we started doing these comparisons to see what the difference would be between a smoke-free beach (Santa Monica) and a beach that still permitted smoking on the beach (WB).  Here's the most recent tally numbers: 

59 clean ups: 357 cigarette butts in Santa Monica

33 clean ups: 7,877 in Wrightsville Beach

One beach. 20 minutes at a time... 

We can make a huge difference in our world...

we have the ability to create change... 

we just have to be willing to try.

Let's try together.

20 minutes on September 2, 2012 at Access 26

Litter by weight: 1 lb 12.2 oz

Cigarette butts: 550
Straws: 10

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 156 days:

50,129

Our Daily Ocean: Day 153

On August 9, my kids and I went back to where it all started at Access 43 just as we did on Our Daily Ocean: Day #1.  It's been 2 years since I walked onto the beach with a mission to help raise awareness about the cigarette litter problem on our local beach and a lot has happened and changed over these past 2 years...

With every step we take on the beach, something has always changed.  When we walked onto the beach on Thursday, we saw something we hadn't seen in the past 2 years.  The entire south end was completely roped off for the nesting beach birds!  It was really a sight to see... birds all over the sand and birds soaring above.  Plus, since there were so many birds (mainly skimmers and seagulls)... being there was a symphony of sounds.

I'm not sure I ever need reminders for why I keep doing what I do... but it's in moments like we had on Thursday that we pause... everything in the world seems perfect... just the way it was and the way it's supposed to be.  And in that moment, of hearing the birds and the waves... and feeling the sand on my feet and the salt air on my skin... I remember why I feel driven to help make the world a better place.

Over the past 2 years, I have had to remind myself that change doesn't always come easy or as fast as we want it to.  But that shouldn't come as a surprise because anything that needs repairing didn't happen overnight.  In order to do anything right (or worthwhile) it takes time, persistence and perseverance.  (nope, I won't give up)

And one thing that I know for sure, if we want to see a change happen in our world... and whatever that change may be... when we come together to make a change.... anything is possible.

20 minutes on August 9, 2012 at Access 43

Litter by weight: 1 lb 3.8 oz
Cigarette butts: 172
Straws: 5

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 153 days:

48,751

Our Daily Ocean: Day 120

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!

20 minutes on February 23, 2012 at Access 36

Litter by weight: 1 lb 4.3 oz
Cigarette butts: 200

 Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 120 days:

40,195

Our Daily Ocean: Day 95

Last night... was a record breaking night.  Our 20 minute clean up turned into almost 30 minutes... and even when we finished the section we started, as we left the beach we could see that there (literally) was no end in sight.  But, maybe I should rewind a bit... as much as I want to blurt everything out right now... let's start from the beginning.

Earlier in the day, I called Bonnie to see if she wanted to go for ice cream with us... ummm... YES!!  Then we decided that we would meet beforehand at Wrightsville Beach to do a 20 minute clean up.  :)  By the way, if you don't know who Bonnie is... you should!  She's been to 3 of the 5 ocean gyres studying the accumulation of plastics in our oceans.  AND... I'm super excited because she's currently working on an art exhibit that will be shown late September...

So... as it were... Claire and Henri were playing in the ocean... I saw a cigarette butt in the tideline...Bonnie grabbed a piece of plastic... and then Henri ran out of the water with a plastic bag (no not that kind... a package for rubber gloves).  As my kids finished playing and our clean up started, my kids made a beeline for the dunes/grasses... finding odds and ends of plastics along the way.

Then it happened, Bonnie called me over to the wrack line.  It was reminiscent of the wrack line that we came across on Day 11 at Access 20.  If you recall, we picked up 1,833 cigarette butts that day.  But, this day... we picked up more....  I attempted to take a picture, but realized that I couldn't fit into one frame what we were seeing... a photo couldn't explain why we didn't stop at the 20 minute mark.  As Bonnie says, "We were soooo outnumbered... the sun went down before we could even come close to finishing."  

I'm not sure where all of those cigarette butts came from, but here's the fact that matters: 

 They were all littered.  

We went over 20 minutes on September 3, 2011 at Access 17

Litter by weight: 2 lbs 6 oz
Cigarette butts: 2,026 

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 95 days:

30,477

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 69

When I was a kid, I used to hide (and sometimes throw away) my mom's cigarettes.  It's true.  Thankfully, my mom got the hint and quit smoking somewhere around 20 years ago.  Speaking of 20.  A major milestone in the 20 minute clean ups has been reached...

We've officially passed the 20,000 mark.  YIKES!!  There was a time when I would have never thought that it was possible.  NOW... I wonder what's next??  How many more cigarette butts are we going to pick up??  I'll tell you how many.... as many as it takes for people to get the message.  And a reality that I've come to accept is that it could be thousands more...  
Maybe we'll hit 50,000?  Think about it.  It may have taken us 69 clean ups to pass the 20,000 mark, but-- since I started this project at the beginning of August-- the majority of those clean ups were done off-season.  In fact, 47 of the 69 clean ups were done between October and April.  Hmmm... during the filming of my FilterForGood Film, I had 11,332 cigarette butts.  Since December, we have added over 9,000 cigarette butts to the tally.  Seriously, I count them all and I can't get over it.  My brain is practically spinning.... and I can't help but wonder what the 2 busiest beach months will bring??    

*sigh*  A lot more of everything, that I am sure of.

20 minutes on May 27, 2011 at Access 29

Litter by weight: 3 lbs 9.1 oz
Cigarette butts: 658

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 69 days:

20,574

Our Daily Ocean: Day 56

On Monday... I took my three kids to the library and to Coastal Cupcakes.  Then I asked them which beach access they would like to go to... in unison they yelled, "The rock!!".  At access 16, there is rock that my kids LOVE to jump off of... you can see them in all their happiness jumping off of it in the FilterForGood Film (which, by the way is now on YouTube!!)....



Having just been to access 16... I decided to do 20 minutes at access 15 and while I did my kids played under the pier.... digging a hole....looking for sand crabs.  So... it was just me... and my two hands.

With this 20 minute clean up... I've hit a milestone.  Surpassing the 16,000 mark.

16,084 to be exact. (...and I'm not stopping anytime soon.) 

I can honestly say that when I started this project... I never (in a million years) would have ever imagined picking up that many cigarette butts.  (who could imagine that?!?)  I'm so extremely grateful to everyone that has shown their support and encouraged me along the way.... and have to give special thanks to everyone that has joined us at Wrightsville Beach to do a 20 minute clean up.  Mark, Zak, Liz, Ryan and Gabby, Tracy with Liam and Emma, Bonnie, Butch, Goffinet, my in-laws, and my mom and sister :)  LOVE and GRATITUDE. 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

Pay no attention to the numbers on the containers... I used to know how many were in each container... but after filming (some were dumped out to get close up shots of the butts).... I lost track. ;)

20 minutes on April 11, 2011

Litter by weight: 9 oz
Cigarette butts: 115

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 56 days:

16,084