Our Daily Ocean: Day 249

Friday evening we volunteered once again for NC Audubon watching after the protected shore bird nesting area.  We've been fortunate during our volunteer time to not have any problems and get to spend our time watching the birds as they nest and take care of their babies.  Now that the dredging and beach renourishment equipment has been removed from the beach (woohoo!), we decided to walk from 44 to 43 to check the posting area and make sure no one was disturbing the protected area.  All was well and there was minimal litter to pick up.  Though we did find a plastic bag that was inside the protected nesting area, but thankfully it was just within reach!

 I've been reading a lot lately.  Mostly novels, but I recently picked up Rachel Carson's Silent Spring.  While not from that book, this quote from Edge of the Sea (1955) by Rachel Carson is one of my absolute favorites....

  "To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be." 

 June 13, 2014 at Access 44/43
Litter by weight: 10.4 oz
Cigarette butts: 3

Total cigarette butts removed: 57,960

Our Daily Ocean: Day 240

For 2 months, I had planned to do a beach cleanup on March 25 while my kids had their science class at Airlie Gardens.  So when I woke up that Tuesday morning, you can imagine my disappointment when it was overcast and raining.  Thankfully, by the time my kids had their class, the rain let up and I was able to do my planned 20 minute beach cleanup! (AND no time more because as my timer went off... the rain began to fall again!)

As usual when it's an overcast rainy day, the lone people are just me on the sand and a few surfers in the water.  It makes cleaning the beach SO much easier not having to weave through people and their possessions.  That being said, I still pause at things like water bottles.  With surfers in the ocean, it's possible that a seemingly left-behind bottle of water could still have an owner.  But, I always err on the side of "reality"and pick it up.

20 minutes on March 25, 2014 at Access 19
Litter by weight: 15.2 oz
Cigarette butts: 42

Total cigarette butts removed: 57,837

Our Daily Ocean: Day 225

So... today's the last day of fall.  It just doesn't feel like tomorrow will be winter.... at least not here anyway.  Even though we have mild winters here, I know that cold weather will take hold at some point and our warm days will disappear.  But until it does... I will soak in the 70 degree temperatures (and brag to my family in the Midwest where they think 30 degrees is a heatwave!).

My kids and I spent part of our morning exploring the dunes at the far south-end of Wrightsville Beach.  It's my kids' favorite place to be at the beach.  Walking carefully through the paths, they get a different view of Wrightsville Beach.  Because normally, we walk down an access (that is cut through the dunes and grasses) to get to the "beach".... at the south-end we can get in the middle of it all to see the little details we could never see walking down a beach access.

Picking up litter while walking through the dunes is more sporadic than picking up litter closer to the water.  Where people typically hang out at the beach things are more concentrated... you can definitely tell where people were sitting or walking.  But through the dunes, there'll be old frayed cigarette butts with the wrack, little bits of broken plastics here and there, and then a something like a beer can tossed on top of a dune.

Sometimes finding a way to get to the litter without disturbing the dunes can be difficult... but we always manage to walk lightly and retrieve any litter that we can.  Even if it is gross.

20 minutes on December 20, 2013 at Access 44

Litter by weight: 1 lb 4.2 oz
Cigarette butts: 33

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 225 days:

57,316

Our Daily Ocean: Day 199

Friday evening, my family and I planned to go to Wrightsville Beach and for the first time in a long time... our plans didn't get interrupted by rain!!  Blue skies and the sun was shining bright!!  So, of course, we took a picnic dinner and spent our evening surfing, swimming, snorkeling and relaxing at Wrightsville Beach!

Because we love where we live SO much... we take time while we're enjoying the beach to give a little back.  Picking up litter for 20 minutes doesn't take much time, but (as I've learned over the course of this project)... it's just enough time to make a difference.

While we not only pick up litter off the beach to help keep it clean... we also (in the case of things like beer caps) save fellow beach goers feet some potential pain.

One of my kids' favorite things to find during our beach cleanups is the little army men.  I've never bought any, but thanks to finding one every now and then... my kids have themselves a nice little collection.  And to add to their collection... a first for us.... a pirate!  Arrgh!

Oh and a reminder:  When trying to make the world a better place, don't get lost in the enormity of whatever it is that you're attempting to do...

Always make time for fun. :)

20 minutes on August 23 at Access 38

Litter by weight: 1 lb 8.3 oz
Cigarette butts: 94

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 199 days:

55,768

Our Daily Ocean: Day 150

Have you ever stood at the edge of the beach and looked around you only to wonder why no one saw what you saw?  I do this all the time.  Of course, I'm not wondering if anyone thinks this place is a place worth visiting (that's obvious... because since they're there, they do).  I always wonder how people can not see the trash right next to them... or if they do... how they can do nothing?

While my husband and I were picking up trash on the beach, my husband was asked if he worked for the town (no) and if he was picking up trash (yes).  The person that asked the latter question tried to give my husband her trash, to which he let her know that he was picking up litter and with a smile he told her that she still had a chance to do the right thing.  This isn't the first time that people have tried to hand their trash over to us. I tend to think there are people who are confused by us picking up trash.  We're not being paid and we're not being punished.  We only do what we do to protect what we love.

Sometimes, in order to protect what we love... rules have to be made.  With all of the talk about banning smoking on our local beaches... many people start to ask questions.  Since I've been committed to cleaning up and raising awareness about the cigarette litter problem for nearly 2 years... I can easily answer the questions that people have and I do so often.  Being that most of the conversations are either private or get lost in the shuffle on Facebook....I've decided to answer 3 of the most popular questions right here:


1.  Where do littered cigarette butts come from-- storm drains, boaters, etc?

Having picked up and taken countless photos of littered cigarettes on Wrightsville Beach, I can attest to the fact that the majority of littered cigarette butts found on our local beaches have been stubbed out, flicked, tossed and left in the sand by beach-goers.  

2.  Littering laws are already in place.  Do we really need another law?

Yes.  Smoking needs to be banned on our local beaches.  The cigarette litter problem on our local beaches is out of control.  There are littering laws and there are signs in place, but those things aren't working to fix the problem.  Whereas, other beaches that have banned smoking report a major reduction in cigarette butt litter.  (Check out the sidebar to see the comparison between Santa Monica and Wrightsville Beach.)  There are, obviously, other benefits to smoke-free beaches beyond cleaning up the beach, but my focus is cigarette litter.

3.  Shouldn't we focus on something bigger, like plastics?

Plastics are a huge problem.  99% of litter we pick up on the beach is plastic and our oceans are becoming increasingly plasticized.  No doubt that's something that needs to be tackled and some plastics definitely need to be banned-- like styrofoam and plastic bags.  But, cigarette filters are also made from plastic and on top of that they contain toxic chemicals that leach into our environment as soon as they come in contact with water.  4.5 trillion little plastic cigarette filters are littered every single year making them the most littered item worldwide.  Change has to start somewhere, so let's work on fixing that.

20 minutes on July 21, 2012 at Access 16

Litter by weight: 4 lbs 10.5 oz
Cigarette butts: 197
Straws: 18
Caps: 20

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 150 days:

48,229

Our Daily Ocean: Day 115

There are some things that you just don't see when you look at beautiful pictures of the beach (or most photography for that matter).  Things are often cropped and cut out so that you only see what is beautiful.

I think about this fact a lot.... especially now that I've seen pictures of places... especially beaches that I once thought were pristine.

If anyone were to look at pictures of Wrightsville Beach on the internet (barring some of what I share, of course), they'd see a beautiful North Carolina Beach.  A place where families bring their children for a summer vacation, a place where surfers catch waves.... a place where amazing memories are created... a place of love.  All of that is Wrightsville Beach.  ....But Wrightsville Beach is also a place where we've picked up over 38,000 cigarette butts that had been put out in the WB sand.  It's a place where cigarette butts can be found in sandcastles and tide pools.  And, you obviously know that I have a problem with that.  I said from the beginning that I was going to help make Wrightsville Beach Smoke-Free... and I've committed myself to my community because I want to help make a difference.  BUT... here's the thing.  I can't do it alone.  I need YOUR help.  When we work TOGETHER to create change... anything is possible....

Support Smoke-Free Wrightsville Beach

Speaking of together and community... my awesome friend, Tracy, was a freaking rockstar beach sweeper last night!!  Seriously, she was digging through the wrack line finding all sorts of littered items from fishing lines with hooks to lots and lots of styrofoam (grr).  She even found this:

A cigarette filter that has a root... maybe a branch of some sort growing through it. We wonder how long it take for this to happen???  Hmmmm....

20 minutes on January 27, 2012 at Access 43

Litter by weight: 3 lbs 12.4 oz 
Cigarette butts: 217

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 115 days:

38,585