Our Daily Ocean: Day 172

Well, hello 2013.  It's a new year and because so much has happened and so many things have changed since this time last year... I'm finding myself super reflective.  I guess that's what New Years is about... reflecting on our past to guide us as we move to the new.  Reminding ourselves who we were, who we are and who we could be.  My head is filled with optimism and hope... a new year brings a new perspective. 

This year, Wrightsville Beach will usher in the implementation of North Carolina's first smoke-free beach.  Very BIG deal.  Successful implementation means there will be fewer littered cigarette butts on Wrightsville Beach!  I'm so excited!  I look forward to seeing a change and helping raise awareness about the new ordinance.  ...and as I reflect back, I can't stop smiling because I was part of something big.  I helped create change because I believed... because I had hope.  Because I read the words "You are the difference" and I believed it.

So let me remind you (as I do every new year) 

You are the difference.

Pass it on.  Everything we do matters.

20 minutes on January 1, 2013 at Access 42

Litter by weight: 1 lb 6.6 oz

Cigarette butts: 271

Plastic caps: 27

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 172 days:

53,726

Our Daily Ocean: Day 36

You ever go to a place over and over again... only to find that as many times as you've been there you've been missing something?  I've lived in Wilmington since 1999... and I'm thankful to say that I've been to Wrightsville Beach more times than I can count....

I realized, today, though.... that just one access over from one of our most visited accesses (43)...  we have been walking past one of the most beautiful spots on Wrightsville Beach.  Rolling dunes, grasses, shrubbery... for a moment I imagined that it was untouched...as nature made it... just the way it was supposed to be.

As we walked down the pathway, I thought about that sign (above)... and wished that there had been another. One about littering especially with facts about plastics and how they negatively impact our oceans and wildlife.

We're redoing our bathroom and today one of the painters said, "That's a nice cigarette butt collection you have in your garage."  Of course, I told him "Thanks." :)  Then I said, "They're from Wrightsville Beach.  That's 35 days worth... 20 minutes at a time.  There are 13,279..."  (Yes, his jaw slightly dropped and his eyes widened... and a conversation began.)  

Want to help bring consciousness to others???  Whatever it is you do... share it.... and take part in conversation....

20 minutes on January 6, 2010

Litter by weight: 12 oz
Cigarette butts: 125

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 36 days:

13,404