Our Daily Ocean: Day 252

Usually, I'm not a morning person.  I may wake up around 7 am, but I move slowly spending a good 2-hours sitting around sipping tea, playing word games and reading before I am ready to "start" my day.  But with my three kids out of town visiting family, I've been forcing myself to move in the morning so that I can go to a morning yoga class and do a beach cleanup!

Even though I only spend enough time at the beach to do my cleanup and then dip my toes in the ocean before heading off to yoga... I'm really enjoying this new routine.  It's making me feel energized and complete.  ... I suppose that I've really just missed being at the beach and the meditative state I get into while walking and cleaning up.  Plus I'm really glad I made it out this morning... there were a lot more littered cigarette butts than I've picked up in a LONG time.

Do you carry a reusable water bottle?  If you haven't made the switch from single-use bottled water, I highly recommend watching the documentary Tapped to learn about the health and environmental issues of bottled water. (and don't forget to share with friends)

July 15, 2014 at Access 18
Litter by weight: 1 lb 10 oz
Cigarette butts: 117

Total cigarette butts removed: 58,157

Our Daily Ocean: Day 229

My friend Kim and I have been meaning to do a beach cleanup together for quite awhile now.  We've emailed, texted, called always saying "we should meet up for a beach cleanup soon!"  But for whatever reason, "soon" took us around 2 years. Some things are worth the wait.

As with all of these "Our Daily Ocean" beach cleanups, our beach cleanup lasted 20 minutes... and while some days 20 minutes can seem like a long time.... my beach cleanup with Kim seemed to pass by so quickly.  Good company and good conversation have a way of doing that. ;)


“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Last March, Kim attended the Plastic-Free Living presentation that I did at UNCW with Beth Terry and Bonnie Monteleone and left with motivation to do her best to live with less plastic.  From time to time, she gives updates on how she's finding ways around using plastic and as always shares her creativity and inspiration on her blog: Kim Beller Designs 

When walking to my car after our beach cleanup together, I noticed that there was a (new) sticker on my car. It was a bit of a shock at first until I realized what it said and that Kim had added it to my (ever growing) collection.  love.

20 minutes on January 10, 2014 at Access 18
Litter by weight: 6.4 oz
Cigarette butts: 188

That's my cat Fluffy, I didn't find her at the beach ;)

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 229 days:

 57,619

Our Daily Ocean: Day 173

Saturday was an especially amazing and fun day at Wrightsville Beach.  There were wispy cirrus clouds painted across the bluest of blue skies and the air was crisp and cool.  As my two boys and I walked south along the beach, they took advantage of the winter beach erosion and spent their time climbing up and jumping off the sand "cliffs"... nature's playground.

And while my boys played, another one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring natural phenomenons was taking place-- sundogs.  The first time I saw a sundog, I called it a fragment of a rainbow.  Over the years, I have viewed these little fragments as a metaphor for life: a reminder that rainbows are always there... we just have to be in the right place to see them.

On Saturday, I saw sundogs everywhere... I even saw a nearly complete halo of color circling the sun... And after I finished my beach clean up, I sat down on a park bench, let my head fall back and the sky smiled at me.... begging me to ask the question: What does it mean???  

To which I can only answer:  

We live in a great big beautiful world.... and it's worth protecting.

20 minutes on January 5, 2013 at Access 18

Litter by weight: 6 oz
Cigarette butts: 116

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 173 days:

53,842