Our Daily Ocean: Day 214

A year ago, Tuesday, I did my 168th beach clean up picking up 225 cigarette butts in 20 minutes.  At the time, I was putting all my efforts into bringing awareness to how beach smoking bans helped reduce cigarette litter and encouraging WB residents to get out and vote.  And then on November 6, 2012 the residents of Wrightsville Beach voted to make WB the first smoke-free beach in North Carolina making my 168th beach clean up my last pre-smoking ban clean up!! 

Yes, it's been a year already!  

With the passing of the smoke-free beach ordinance, I found immense gratitude in being part of something so significant to my area.  A year after the fact, I still feel the pride wash over me when I step onto the beach.  And even more so when I calculate the difference pre and post smoke-free ordinance.

Comparing March 2012- March 2013 where I picked up an average of 222 cigarette butts per clean up to April 2013- present where I now pick up an average of 60 butts per cleanup....  

there is a 73% decrease in cigarette litter at Wrightsville Beach!!  YAY for a smoke-free beach!!!

Now as I work to complete 365 non-consecutive beach cleanups, without the push of fixing the cigarette litter problem....  I sometimes find myself looking for inspiration, motivation and purpose to get out to the beach.  This past Tuesday, I received a simple reminder from my friend Rachel and her 3 amazing kids.

There's nothing... I tell you nothing... more inspiring than seeing young kids get excited about helping make a difference.  I loved watching Rachel's kids enthusiasm, having conversations with them and hearing their observations about what they were picking up on the beach.  Thank you Rachel, for suggesting that we do a beach cleanup together!!  Let's do it again, soon!

20 minutes on November 5, 2013 at Access 25

Litter by weight:  1.4 oz
Cigarette butts: 68

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 214 days:

56,597

Salt Dough Ornaments

I wouldn't normally consider myself a crafty person-- maybe it's the season or maybe it's me taking time away from the beach...I'm not sure-- but as my kids and I began making salt dough ornaments.... a wave of creative inspiration came over me.

  ....and I created this ornament with a cookie cutter and plastics removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC. 
(yes, I'm proud)  

So what is it??  Salt dough painted with water colors, decorated with small plastics that I found on Wrightsville Beach... and it's hanging from littered fishing line (that I also found on the beach).

Wanna make your own?  YAY!!  It's super easy and lots of fun.  <--- says the very uncrafty girl ;)

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups hot tap water

4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325˚ F.  

Dissolve salt in hot water.  Mix flour into salt water until completely combined.  Kneed briefly until soft and pliable.  

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough ball out into an even thickness of about 1/8"- 1/4".  Cut shapes using cookie cutters, then add a hole at the top. (TIP: I cut the dough ball into 4 pieces... one for each of my kids and me)

Place on cookie sheets and bake at 325˚ F until hard, about 40 minutes to an hour.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Decorate:  Get crafty and use what you have.... or go hit the beach for some inspiration ;)

P.S.  Before we decorated them, my husband thought they were cookies and took a bite! YUCK!!  Do your loved ones teeth and taste buds a favor and let everyone know that they are not cookies! ;)

Our Daily Ocean: Day 98

Friday night was a SUPER exciting night!!  Moments after doing our 20 minute clean up at Access 36, we walked a bit north on the beach to see a Loggerhead sea turtle nest excavation!!!

It was so amazing seeing the teeny tiny baby sea turtles make their way to the ocean... and being there to witness this event solidified even more how important what we are doing really is...

One of my favorite sites for learning about sea turtles is SEEturtles.org.  If there was anything you ever wanted to learn about sea turtles... that's the place to go :)  By the way... did you know? 

It's estimated that only 1 in 1000 sea turtle hatchlings will make it to adulthood.  (...whatever it is that we can do to help them make it to adulthood... I feel like it's our responsibility to do so.... "No thank you plastic _______.")

Hatchlings use the natural light horizon along with the white crests of the waves to reach the water when they emerge from the nest.  Any other light sources such as beachfront lighting, street lights, car lights, camera flashes, etc can disorientate the hatchlings and send them in the wrong direction. (That's no bueno!)

Sea turtle hatchlings have a long road to adulthood... the moment they emerge from the nest, they have natural predators-- ghost crabs, birds, dogs, raccoons, fish, etc-- to scoot and swim past.   ...And once they make it... they now have to contend with deciphering between what is edible food and what is our completely unnatural toxic trash.  (Only WE can change that.)

Rewinding a bit:  On Thursday evening, we met our friend Sean with the Surfrider Foundation at Wrightsville Beach Town Hall with all 33,989 cigarette butts we've collected off of Wrightsville Beach.  Sean presented to the Board of Aldermen about micro-litter (specifically cigarette butts) on WB.  He ended with asking the board to revisit the idea of banning smoking on the beach...  

Only time will tell what the board decides to do with the information that Sean presented to them.  In the meantime... we'll still be heading out to Wrightsville Beach... doing 20 minute clean ups and counting cigarette butts.

20 minutes on September 9, 2011 at Access 36

Litter by weight: 2 lbs 10.6 oz

Cigarette butts: 193

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 98 days:

34,182

Our Daily Ocean: Day 60

On Monday-- not 5 minutes into our 20 minute clean up at Access 43-- we found the ultimate example of irresponsibility.  A broken beach chair, left for someone else to carry off the beach.  And one thing is blatantly obvious: whoever left it knew that they left it.  Unlike many things left on the beach... leaving a beach chair takes thought...  there is an exact moment when someone makes the conscious decision to pass off their responsibility and walk away.  (Oh how I wish I would've taken a picture of my daughter carrying the broken chair off the beach)

And I'm not going to lie... it's true that it can get a little disheartening going to the beach and seeing how people treat one of my most favorite places in the whole world.  BUT... as much as it's disheartening....I don't feel helpless...

Every time I take a photo, share what we find, exchange knowledge and personal experiences... I feel empowered.  Because everyday is an opportunity to help create awareness.

Awareness creates consciousness that helps to form change.

Something to think about:  We've picked up over 17,000 cigarette butts in 60 days.... making our average about 284 cigarette butts every 20 minutes.  Could you imagine if we picked up 284 water bottles every 20 minutes??  In my opinion, 284 of anything in 20 minutes is absolutely ridiculous.  I have a feeling that the people involved in creating this short video would also agree.

Last week, my Aunt and my cousin were on a 4th grade class field trip to the Mississippi River.  While dipping nets into the Mississippi to explore life in the river, one net came up with a cigarette butt.

With nothing to see, the students were to empty the net back into the river... BUT...a young girl questioned whether or not they should put a cigarette butt back in the river.  Having learned from what we've been doing, my Aunt quickly chimed in and let the teachers know that cigarette filters are made from a type of plastic.  (They had no idea!!)  Later that day, my Aunt forwarded the teachers my Brita FilterForGood film .... and the next day my cousin's 4th grade class-- in a small Iowa town-- watched my film in class. :)  YAY!!  I am so appreciative of my Aunt for saying something... and have so much gratitude for my cousin's teacher taking the time to teach students something that isn't in school books.

Here's what I'm thinking... err... feeling, right now: There are so many people in this world on this same mission to create change... and no matter how big a person's reach is-- whether to one person or thousands of people-- ripple effects are powerful and far reaching.  I have no doubts that change is going to come.

20 minutes on May 2, 2011 at Access 43

Litter by weight: 2 lbs 2.2 oz plus a broken beach chair
Cigarette butts: 151

The beach chair is broken... the aluminum frame is snapped. :( In an effort to keep it out of the trash, I'm going to be dropping it off at Re-Eco to be (hopefully) repurposed!! :)

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 60 days:

17,057

Our Daily Ocean: Day 55

Sunday we went to one of our least visited accesses:  Access 33.  We hadn't been there since our 17th clean up on November 1, 2010 and at that time it held the record (at 85) for the least amount of cigarette butts picked up in 20 minutes.  BUT....no records were made on Sunday.  Cigarette butts were everywhere.  Our beach clean up went a bit like this:  Step, lean, pick... step kneel, scooch, pick.....

 Fun fact:  Yesterday was the 100th day of the year.   Fun Fact #2:  I looooooove finding sea glass.  I feel like it's a gift of sorts from the ocean....

Have you heard about the campaign "Boycott the Baggie"??  It's a small step to stop using one disposable product a day.  It's a commitment that I made years ago... more years than I remember.  I'm wondering if my kids even know what they are... hmmm... they definitely know what they look like...

Just like baggies are useless trash... so are single-use cups.  Seriously.  Get used to carrying a cup... it's not hard to grab a mug when you walk out the door... it just takes remembering.

My tip for being forgetful:  If you forget.  Go without.  

Trust me... go without enough and that whole remembering thing will catch on. ;)

As I'm thinking about it... nearly everything we pick up at the beach is a single use disposable product.  Cigarettes, baggies, cups, plastic utensils, lids, individually wrapped foods, straws... the list goes on and on.  What will you REFUSE today??  May I make a suggestion... how about saying no thank you to a straw in your drink?? (please and thank you)

One of 12 straws that we removed from WB on Sunday.

Sooo.... just after I took the "group" photo of all the litter we removed from Wrightsville Beach... my husband and I watched a man fiddle around with his fishing line.  It was a complete tangled mess.  Such a mess that he got out his pocket knife and cut it free.... immediately dropped it to the ground and never once looked back....

I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.

20 minutes on April 10, 2011

Litter by weight: 6.5 oz

Cigarette butts: 241

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 55 days: 

15,969

Our Daily Ocean: Day 43

Here's the thing... yesterday, my kids and I went to Wrightsville Beach to do a 20 minute clean up.... Same beach, different day... same story.  We found all the typical things we've been finding this winter... mostly cigarette butts and single use plastics.  

But as we were walking... I found something that I've never seen before.  I reached down to grab what looked like a piece of metal sticking out of the sand....

BUT...when I grabbed it... a whole wad of organics held together by fishing line came with it... maybe there's a special name for what I found... but I'm feeling like it's just a big "wad of irresponsibility." 

 For the third clean up in a row, the cigarette butt counts are still on the decline... but with the weather heating up.... it's (obviously) only a matter of time....

Like cigarette butts, a beach clean up is never complete without finding a straw.  Really it never fails... even on the coldest days we find straws.   Most (like this photo) are from juice boxes.  A single use product in all it's glory.  Throwaway container, with a plastic wrapped single use straw.... used for mere minutes and then tossed.  As a parent, I get that kids dig juice boxes and they are pretty darn convenient... but it doesn't take that much longer or much effort to fill a reusable bottle with juice... seriously.

Switching gears... to good news :)   Jackson Browne is to be honored with the Save Our Shores Ocean Hero Award for his social, environmental and anti-plastic activism and his ongoing dedication to ocean issues. 

“This is a critical moment in our planet’s life.  Plastic was a big mistake, and we need to do something about it.” 

~Browne

I couldn't agree more.

20 minutes on February 15, 2011

Litter by weight: 4.3 oz

Cigarette butts: 85

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 43 days: 

14,301