Our Daily Ocean: Day 176

For the past several days, warm weather has been making winter feel like spring.  It's been really really nice!!  As far as my beach clean ups have gone-- knowing the beach has been getting more traffic than normal-- I've been pleasantly surprised by the minimal amount of litter I've been finding on the beach.

See that plastic bottle of water?  It's only one now, but come summer littered single-use plastic water bottles will abound.  ...and to be completely frank, bottled water is one example of a littered item that is completely unnecessary.  Of course, there are more problematic issues to bottled water than just the littered plastic bottle that could send me on a long winding tangent... instead, I'll recommend watching the documentary "Tapped" (it's available on Netflix) and grabbing a reusable water bottle.  

It's always worth reminding ourselves that with our own conscious purchasing habits we have the power to change the system.  If we all get together to make a change... that change is unstoppable.

20 minutes on January 15, 2013 at Access 36

Litter by weight: 7.5 oz

Cigarette butts: 46

 Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 176 days:

54,048

Our Daily Ocean: Day 47

On Sunday, the weather was... dare I say... near perfect.  We spent our day outside enjoying the 77˚ weather and getting a couple of our gardens-- herb and perennial flower gardens-- ready for Spring! (YAY!!)  In the afternoon, we decided that we couldn't miss out on going to the beach on this "perfect" day... BUT... as we were driving to Wrightsville Beach we watched the temperature drop from 75˚F to 59˚F!!!  As we walked up Access 38.... my husband was in shorts, my kids were in short sleeves... and only I and my 4 year old son had jackets.  Needless to say, our 47th clean-up was the longest 20 minutes EVER!!!

Not long after stepping onto the beach, we all noticed something "shining" in the sand.  My kids made a beeline and raced to get it... running back to us with a "kid-sized" Deerpark water bottle they unanimously said, "It's not even opened?!"  Of course, when I got home... I watered the grass with it.  Holding the bottle, I couldn't help but notice the text on the label...

Water from natural Florida springs in a plastic bottle found on a North Carolina Beach... but...(cue sarcasm) "We Can All Make a Difference. Please Recycle." Bullshit.  Recycling doesn't fix taking water from communities (see: Save Our Springs), recycling doesn't fix the people (and environment) who are being poisoned by the production of plastic bottles... recycling isn't fixing the plastic soup that's swirling in our oceans.... grrr...AND... not to mention that simple fact that plastic "recycling" isn't really recycling....  (deep breath)... 

WE CAN ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE:  PLEASE USE A REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE.    

I'd like to interrupt this rant and tell you to watch "Tapped" (free thanks to Hulu)

20 minutes on February 27, 2011

Litter by weight: 12.8 oz

Cigarette butts: 84

Total amount of cigarette butts picked up off of Wrightsville Beach, NC in 47 days:

14,785