Green Bag Lady: Beach Freebie!

Last fall, Teresa aka Green Bag Lady was kind enough to make a few of us-- including myself and Sara-- that do consistent beach clean ups some very special beach bags for our beach clean ups!  The bags are super AWESOME because they're designed with mesh bottoms that allow the sand to fall through... no longer do I bring home the beach!  ;)

... AND, now Teresa wants others to have these bags too!!  On her blog Green Bag Lady, she's giving away 3 mesh bottomed beach bags like Sara and I have plus 9 beach themed bags!

Want to win a bag?  It's easy!  

To enter: Hop on over to 

Green Bag Lady: Beach FREEBIE!! 

Don't miss out! The giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 28 at 10PM CST

Our Daily Ocean: Day 103

Well, I guess it's really official...cold temperatures mean that summer (gasp) is over. (boo!) With the rushing in of cold weather, no longer are our feet going to burn from the hot sand or will we get a glowing tan from being at the beach...nope... now starts the season of cold fingers and sniffly red noses.  It was so cool here yesterday, that when we headed to Wrightsville Beach, I had to break out a long sleeve shirt, my "winter" jacket, and shoes!! AND... I also broke out all my new beach cleaning bags from Green Bag Lady!!     

Now, as excited as my kids were to use their new bags... the cold northerly winds and cold sand put them in a constant state of whine and they only lasted about 5 minutes before they called it quits!! *Sigh*  It's more fun when they call it quits because they're running to play in the water...    

For the month of October, our beach clean ups have been few and far between.  In fact, with this clean up... we ended up doing only 3 clean ups for the entire month of October.  Realizing we hadn't been to Access 36-- our adopted beach access-- since September 9... my husband and I agreed that we needed to go there.  The beach was empty and the amount and type of litter we found is starting to change. However, somethings just don't change.  Through the changing of the seasons, we have found that we always find large amounts of cigarette butts.

One thing I wasn't expecting to find a lot of yesterday, was straws.  With the oceanfront restaurant Oceanic at Access 36, we always find loads of plastic straws that blow from their dining pier.  BUT... I thought with the weather being fairly cool that we wouldn't find many straws.  Boy was I wrong!!!  We collected a total of 35 straws... AND.... 31 of those straws came from Oceanic!! (shocker)  Some black, some clear... and some-- like this one I found at the steps leading up to the pier-- still in wrappers.

If you recall, I've been in contact with the district manager of the company that owns Oceanic.  This problem along with an employee smoking area, has been something that I've been assured they're working on.  I have to say, that I was very impressed to see very little cigarette litter under the pier... BUT... BUT... BUT.... the amount of straws from their restaurant that we found on a cold day at Wrightsville Beach... is completely ridiculous.  Since I've talked to Oceanic about this problem... they know it exists.  They know that they are part of the litter problem at Wrightsville Beach...and they don't want to be known as the littering restaurant.  But... 31 straws, 6 coasters, 10 candy wrappers and a mix of other various items... I hate to be the one to let them know ------> When you offer (or use) single-use disposable products... you are part of the littering problem.  I recognize this fact in my own life and because of this connection we choose to make changes. ...So, if Oceanic (or anyone else) wants to change that trend... if they truly want to be part of the solution, they have to start making changes. RETHINK, REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE   .... Guess it's time to make another phone call...

20 minutes on October 30, 2011 at Access 36

Litter by weight: 9.3 oz
Cigarette butts: 198

The pile on the left are littered items that are specific to Oceanic: coasters, straws, candy wrappers, coffee creamer, cracker wrappers.

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 103 days: 

35,609

Our Daily Ocean: Day 102

After over 20 days, I finally made it back out to Wrightsville Beach last night to do my 102nd beach clean up!!!  My husband and three kids had some things to do... so, it was just "me" and one of our brand new beach clean up bags straight from Green Bag Lady!!

Teresa (Green Bag Lady) made special beach bags for several of us that do beach clean ups... and sent us 5 for our family to use!!  Now, I attempted to make a video showing what sets Green Bag Lady Beach Bags apart from the rest... but *sigh* I just can't listen to my recorded voice!! (must figure out how they made me sound good in my FilterForGood film ;) )  Anyhow, the bags are made of vinyl with MESH bottoms... a mesh bottom means that all of the sand falls through and stays where it's supposed to-- the beach!!!  YAY!!  No more piles of sand in my driveway!!  Thanks so much Teresa!! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE our new beach bags!! So AWESOME!!!! :)

When I saw this single use plastic spoon on the beach last night, I immediately thought of the poster-- "The Spoon" by Max Temkin-- that I shared on my FB page back in September. (Thanks Sean!)  If you haven't seen the poster, check it out here.  It may seem like an absolute no brainer to not use disposable plasticware, but it's easy to get stuck using the stuff.  So... my advice: Either buy a nice travel set of utensils or grab some out of your drawer and keep them handy! Please and thank you :) 

Still picking up cigarette butts on Wrightsville Beach... and still no resolution as to how the Town of WB is planning on dealing with the problem.  As beach season is now over, I have no doubts that this issue will be (once again) put off until next season... guess I'll be at this longer than I anticipated.  

No worries though, because I decided a few months ago that I'm going to continue doing the 20 minute beach clean ups until Sara finishes her 365 non-consecutive day goal.  (She just finished up with Day 227)  Here's to at least another year... and our awesome awesome community! :)

20 minutes on October 23, 2011 at Access 29

Litter by weight: 1 lb 9.6 oz

Cigarette butts: 132

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 102 days:

35,411