Our Daily Ocean: Day 197

This past Sunday, my family and I were getting around to go to Wrightsville Beach when we saw the sky change.  As dark clouds began rolling in, we made the decision to wait on going to the beach.  And I'm glad we did because the storm that rolled in brought very heavy rain, lightening and... at Wrightsville Beach... funnel clouds (umm... no thank you!!)  See photos here: Sunday, 8/11/13 Storm Pictures  Once we felt comfortable that the storm had passed, we unpaused our beach plans.

Obviously, after such a storm... the beach was fairly deserted. And as expected, signs of people who had rushed off the beach were everywhere.

But once again, what was barely there were cigarette butts.  There's only one other cleanup that I remember specifically doing after it rained: my 127th beach clean up on March 19, 2012.  Then I picked up 91 cigarette butts.

Sunday, I picked up 10.  Only ten.

Friends of Wrightsville Beach.  We are beginning to see what "better" looks like.  And although it took a lot of work to make Smoke-Free WB a reality, people are complying with the new ordinance.  I've even taken the time while at the beach to let anyone I see smoking (which has been very few!) know that WB is smoke-free.  It's a nerve wracking experience, but everyone I've talked to has been super nice (and appreciative of me letting them know).   

A recent Star-News article reports on the topic here: Wrightsville Beach sees compliance, with little fuss, on smoking ban

smiling.  I. can't. stop. smiling.

"We live in a time where we don't need more ideas... we're swimming in solutions, we just need more volunteers.  So if there's anything in this world that fires you up, lean into the discomfort and go out there and do something and make a difference." 

~ Jason Mraz

20 minutes on August 11, 2013 at Access 39

Litter by weight: 2 lbs 7 oz

Cigarette butts: 10

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 197 days: 

55,610