Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Day 93 - Feb. 1, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
trash collected for 20 minutes
today - 3.1
total - 389.5
KNOW YOUR H2O is a Surfrider initiative that I would like to pass on. This blog will give you updates on important water quality, (ocean and fresh), like the proposed:

"The Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act (HR 4202) has been introduced by Representatives Edwards (MD), Carnagan (MO) and Driehaus (OH) into the House of Representatives. By funding and promoting both research and on-the-ground green projects, this bill will help protect and restore our water resources while providing Americans with thousands of green jobs, energy savings and better health and well-being."

If you would like to send a message of support for this bill, you will find a link to do that at the end of the KNOW YOUR H2O post. As it says on their blog, "It's your water too, get involved!"
I collected mostly styrofoam cups, bits and bobs today along the low tide line. In the past I have rushed towards a piece of plastic trash ready to be sucked back into the ocean by the next approaching wave. Today, feeling overwhelmed by the styrofoam peppered beach ahead of me, I noticed that I no longer ran to retrieve trash from the water the way I used to. Realizing this bummed me out a little bit, but, BUT - I think it is only human to go through phases of feeling hopeful about the action you take to help the environment, and in my case, specifically the marine environment, and then perhaps fluctuate towards feeling overwhelmed by it all. Here is a quote from my friends Anna Cummins and her husband Dr. Marcus Eriksen's website 5 Gyres -
"The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed." - Jacques Cousteau

It may seem like an impossible task to stop polluting our oceans, marine animals and ourselves with plastic pollution, but really what is our option?

See what Anna and Marcus are up to during their sail from Bermuda to the Azores, trolling for plastic and spreading awareness across the globe - 5 Gyres
My friend and Co-Founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Manuel Maqueda, works on an amazing site called The BlooSee. If you are an ocean lover, this is a must see. Please go explore this site, it is inspiring and a fantastic resource for all of us that love the "BlooSee" to aid us in remembering why we care so much about keeping it from further environmental destruction.


"BlooSee is the place to share your knowledge related to navigation and the sea (anchorages, marinas, dangers, tourist information, paradises and dream spots, etc.) on a global world chart. It is also a social network for every sea-lover out there: share photos, comments, and stories with other users as passionate about the blue world as yourself." - BlooSee website