Our Daily Ocean: Day 201

On Monday afternoon, while my daughter was at dance, I set out to Wrightsville Beach to make good on my personal goal of doing a beach cleanup as often as I could.  Wanting to do my 365th beach cleanup on August 9, 2014 is going to take focus, planning and commitment. 

Something I rarely mention is that the commitment is about more than just doing a beach cleanup.  Anyone who has taken the time to document beach cleanups, knows what I'm talking about.  The commitment for me involves a 20 minute drive to the beach, 20 minute cleanup, 20 minute drive home and the time to weigh, sort, and document.

  This is not a once a year beach cleanup. This is a portrait of a beach.... through the days, weeks and months of the year.  These small beach cleanups are how a lightbulb effectively got switched on for me.    My friend Harry (aka The Flotsam Diaries) just wrote a fantastic piece for the Portland Press Herald blog titled, "The International Coast Cleanup-- Bigger Isn't Better".  He writes:

"...have everyone get down in the sand, picking every last piece of garbage they can, til nobody can pick up one more scrap. Get in there with them. Make the beach spotless. Make it shine. Take a picture to remember how it looks spotless. Smile.

Then, gather your group at the same beach not in a year, but in a week.

There is nothing more jarring to the system than seeing a place you broke your back caring for, trashed again while the soreness of your effort is still in your limbs.

There’s nothing better to drive the point home that it’s time for a change."

Coastal Cleanup Day was on Saturday and I did this cleanup on Monday.  This is reality. 

It's time for change.

20 minutes on September 23, 2013 at Access 36

Litter by weight: 7.3 oz

Cigarette butts: 137

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 201 days:

55,962

Our Daily Ocean: Day 108

Cigarettes.  The most littered item worldwide.  Somewhere around 2 billion cigarettes are littered daily.  In regards to my efforts cleaning up the most littered item in the world... some may say, "Why even bother??" or "What's the point??"

The other day, I was reading my friend Harry's blog "The Flotsam Diaries".  If you haven't checked out what he's been up to in Maine... you MUST!! :)  In his post "Hope, Despair, and that Strange Place In-Between" he sums up quite perfectly why he keeps doing what he does... cleaning beaches even though really there is no end in sight.  He writes:

"So I do what I do because I love my daughter and I think the world is beautiful and I want to preserve it..."

... 'Hoping' puts the burden on someone else. "Doing" puts the burden -- the control -- in my own hands. So no, I can't change the world. But I can change my part of it. And no, I can't make it better forever. But I can make it better for today. This one moment when the beach is deserted and the gulls are crying and the surf is pounding and the breeze is carrying salt on the air... and the sand is clean.

And it just might stay clean long enough for the next lonely wanderer to look down. And notice.

Sometimes, the point isn't to do the right thing because you hope or think something awesome will come from it. It's because, it's the right thing...."

20 minutes on December 16, 2011 at Access 36

Litter by weight: 9.5 oz

Cigarette butts: 95

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 108 days:

36,611

Our Daily Ocean: Day 104

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.

Think about it.

20 minutes on November 8, 2011 at Access 16

Litter by weight: 6.8 oz
Cigarette butts: 182

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 104 days:

35,791

It Starts With Us: A Letter to Tom's of Maine

Back in June, I jumped in excitement and gave a virtual high 5 to Harry when I read his open letter to Tom's of Maine regarding their switch from aluminum toothpaste tubes to plastic tubes.  I, like Ellen, had hoped that their inbox would be flooded with emails questioning and challenging their decision.  I said, "I'm going to write a letter, too."  Most often twitter illiterate... my excitement even got me to bust out some tweets:

@FlotsamDiaries OMG! Was just thinking about this today!! U ROCK!! I absolutely LOVE it!! Need to start a campaign w/ @PlasticfreeBeth ;)

RT @FlotsamDiaries Open letter to Tom's of Maine.http://t.co/QAgbZPX U switched to plastic tubes b/c u thought it was better. U were misled

@PlasticfreeBeth check it out! @FlotsamDiaries wrote an awesome letter to Tom's of Maine about their switch to #plastic bit.ly/kynpiF

@FlotsamDiaries I just thought about something. Tom's used to b a small (and awesome) company... aren't they owned by colgate? Hmm..$$$

Yup... I was excited.  I felt motivated.  Then I forgot... until today when I was reading "The House Behind the Other Houses."  Thank you Ellen for the reminder.  This time, I didn't give myself the opportunity to forget.  Today, I followed through because Tom's will never know what I think or why I do what I do unless I tell them... the same goes for you ;) So here it is... my letter to Tom's of Maine:

"Over the past several years, I have been making a concentrated effort to make decisions that positively impact our environment.  Part of this continued effort was started by doing beach clean ups and seeing the negative impact that plastics have on our environment... through production all the way to disposal.  The knowledge I've gained about plastic pollution has led me to strive to reduce the amount of plastics that I do use.  

Years ago, one of the first changes I made was to start buying Tom's of Maine toothpastes for our family of five.  The decision to make the switch to Tom's over other "environmentally friendly" toothpastes was the metal tube.  I appreciated the fact that I could recycle the tube and that the only plastic was the one single plastic lid.  But, recently, that changed.  I read that Tom's thinks it's more environmentally friendly to use the new plastic laminate in lieu of aluminum.  I appreciate that Tom's invested in a study to determine the environmental impact of your toothpaste tubes.  One thing that may have been disregarded in the study is the end life of the product.  As a #7 plastic, the new toothpaste tube can't be recycled and certainly can't be reused... and even if it could be reused, it will eventually end up in a landfill or worse yet our oceans as new virgin plastic will continue being made...a completely unsustainable cycle... plastic is forever.  In my opinion, it's time to rethink the packaging again.

  

As we're finishing up our last tubes of Tom's toothpastes, I can honestly say that I don't know where to go from here.  I view my role as a consumer to be very important.  I vote with my dollars.  Sustainability is a top priority for our family.  As of now I have yet to make a decision about whether or not our family of five will continue to use Tom's.  My hope is that Tom's realizes this switch to plastic was a horrible mistake and as a forward thinking company is able to come up with a better solution.

Thank you for being a leader in sustainability for over 40 years.  I look forward to Tom's getting back to their roots by dumping the unsustainable plastic trend.

Sincerely,

Danielle Richardet

http://itstartswithme-danielle.blogspot.com"

Ok... I've shared mine.  Now it's your turn.  If you use Tom's of Maine toothpaste, take a couple of minutes and write them.  Let them know what you think about the switch from aluminum tubes to plastic.  Tom's of Maine: Contact Us

***********************UPDATE: July 29, 2011**************************

I received the following email from Tom's of Maine.  While I don't agree with everything that was said in the response (ummm... #7 plastic is not recyclable... it's only downcyclable and will eventually end up in a landfill.), I do appreciate the fact that I didn't receive a "form letter" and that they are (or at least seem to be) trying.  So... after receiving their response, I made the decision to go ahead and purchase Tom's of Maine toothpaste.  Over then next several months I'm going to attempt to figure out an alternative solution to plastic packaged toothpastes. :)  My first stop will be trying out homemade toothpaste... I mean toothpaste is really just a recipe put in a tube, right???

"Hi Danielle,

Thank you for your email. I am very sorry to hear of your recent disappointment upon discovering our new laminate tube material. As you can probably imagine, switching to our new tube was a really big decision for our company. The aluminum tubes have been a part of our company for over 40 years.

I do want to assure you that our #7 plastic is recyclable, and we have identified a partner who will recycle and reuse the material as pallet corner protectors and other shipping materials. You can read more about the kinds of materials our tubes will be used to make, here:

http://www.angleboard.com/Sustainability.aspx

We understand that we are very lucky here in Kennebunk to have every code of plastic accepted for recycling in our municipality. If that is not the case where you live, we encourage you to save up any used tubes of ours and send them back to us for recycling. We will gladly reimburse your postage with new product.

Our tubes are also BPA-free, as well as phthalate-free, two considerations we took very seriously in choosing a tube that could withstand our strong natural flavor oils. 

That said, we still recognize that plastic is not the perfect option. Like you, we are committed to sustainability and a clean world. Just today here at our plant in Sanford, Maine, we all took the lunch hour to pick up litter in the neighborhood surrounding our facility.

We are going to continue to look for ways to improve the sustainability of our packaging, and really hope that consumers like you will keep us aware of new options that arise. We appreciate that you do have an opportunity to vote with your dollar, and that you've used that vote to support us all these years. I hope that you will continue to support our company as we look for more sustainable packaging options.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

Sincerely, 
Bridget M. Burns 
Citizen's Advocacy Representative 
www.tomsofmaine.com"

Our Daily Ocean: Day 48

On Monday... yes, Monday!! (feel free to call me a slacker!!)... we did another 20 minute clean up at Wrightsville Beach.  I've been procrastinating writing this blogpost for so many reasons.... but this morning I was given inspiration (on Facebook of all places) from my friend Harry who writes the blog "The Flotsam Diaries."... I guess I just needed a couple of days to sit on Access 20 and process everything that's been swirling through my head...

Access 20 is where my family and I picked up 1,833 cigarette butts in 20 minutes on September 19, 2010.. that was only our 11th clean up.  When I posted about that day... I remember feeling so sad and frustrated... I actually cried about what we removed from the beach that day.  BUT... then I was happy at the same time because it was in that post that I shared with you all that I had entered what I'm doing in the Brita FilterForGood Film Project... :)   If you haven't seen the film yet... please check it out and share.

(Also, I have so much gratitude for everyone who has commented and shared my project-- the film has been shared on Facebook 2,369 times!!!  YAY!!!  Thank you thank you thank you!!!!)

The only way any of this [litter problem] is going to change is if we help others become conscious to the problem.... this is what 20 minutes looked like on September 19...

Thankfully, we didn't remove that much of anything from Access 20 on Monday.  But we did remove a good amount of straws.  (Don't worry, I'm not going to rant today!! ;) )  

By now, I'm assuming that everyone knows that our family of five chooses to not use straws-- one of our many lessons and changes that we've made because of beach clean ups.  This morning I learned about a fourth-grader who has started a "campaign" of sorts to encourage people to go "Straw-Free."  Once he learned that over 500 million straws were used in the U.S. EVERYDAY... EVERYDAY!!... he stopped using straws and started the Straw-Free Project... check out the site and pledge to go straw-free for at least a month!!  (please)

 After reading my post about our 46th clean up, Jennifer-- who writes the blog Jennasaurus-- and a new resident of Wilmington (yay!!)... got inspired and headed out to Wrightsville Beach to do a beach clean up!!!  LOVE it!!!  Read her post about her beach clean up here: Making A Trip To The Beach Count

Now, that's some red lipstick!!!

20 minutes on March 7, 2011


Litter by weight: 5.8 oz
Cigarette butts: 76

A lot has changed since September.

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 48 days:

14,861

Our Daily Ocean: Day 19

Before we made our way to Wrightsville Beach, yesterday afternoon, we made a quick stop at the library.  I'll go ahead and let you in on something...the amount of littered butts at my local library almost made me skip the beach and do a clean-up right there.  Littered butts on our roadways, sidewalks, parking lots, etc... will eventually make it to the beach... it seemed strange that I was leaving that mess to go search for another.  I think I'm going to start doing "The Daily Parking Lot"... hmmm.

Throughout these past 19 days, I've been pretty sporadic about my access choices.  Preferring to let others (or available parking) choose where we go... this time... I let my boys choose ;)

I was happy that my boys unanimously chose Access 20.  Last time we were there on September 19, we picked up a ridiculous amount of cigarette butts and I was curious to see if there would be a significant difference in the amount of butts that we would find. (There was.)  When we walked onto the beach... it was absolutely gorgeous... the large tidal pool stretched the length of the beach.... and typical of every time I've been to the beach off-season... it made me long for summer....

But, of course, I got to thinking about summer... and how many more people are at the beach... how much less "trash" we are finding....thinking about my kids playing... thinking about the 6,346 cigarette butts that we picked up in just 12 days off of Wrightsville Beach from August 9 to September 24.  

  

It is off-season at Wrightsville Beach... free parking and dogs are free to be on the beach!!  YAY!!  (kind of)  Here's something to think about... 

Pet waste is nasty stuff... I think it's rad to see dogs at the beach... but no one likes  to look at that mess... besides... it's an environmental hazard-- fecal coliform anyone???  Yeah, me neither.  Dispose of pet waste properly... please.

Pet waste isn't the only thing on the beach that poses an environmental hazard....

"Cigarette butts can leach chemicals such as cadmium, lead and arsenic into our marine environment within an hour of contact with water." 

Studies conducted by Clean Virginia Waterways show that the chemicals in cigarette butts easily leach out of the butts, and are deadly to water fleas. The evidence indicates that the toxic chemicals leached from discarded cigarette butts present a biohazard to the water flea at concentrations of more than 0.125 butts per liter, or about one butt per two gallons of water. 

Which gets me thinking about the experiment that Harry who writes The Flotsam Diaries blog is doing... and about the experiment that Mark-- who's helping keep butts of the ground and saving fish with The Bait Tanks-- did.... hmmm... I think I might start an experiment of my own.... 

20 minutes on November 10, 2010


Amount of litter picked up by weight: 6.8 oz
Cigarette butts: 167

Yeah... the lighting was harsh... and there's a pair of black tights covering a bit of the pile.  The container is on it's way to being filled with butts... before adding today's butts it had 832.

Total amount of cigarette butts picked up off of Wrightsville Beach, NC in 19 days:

8,284