Saturday, May 5, 2012

Day 278 - May 4, 2012


lifeguard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
trash collected for 20 minutes
4.1 pounds
1,030.5 pounds total 

11 cigarette butts


My friend Danielle who writes the blog, "It Starts With Me" found 105 cigarette butts during her last 20 min. beach cleanup in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.. Last night when I picked up 11 cigarettes I felt like that was a lot for one twenty minute cleanup session. It's helpful to have comparisons. Smoking is banned on the beach in Santa Monica, but not in North Carolina. She's working on changing that. Let's help her. Count the butts you find next time you're strolling on the sand by your home. Send us the info. and let us know if smoking is banned on your beach, or not.



The water temperature is on the rise, the days are lengthening and my cardio needs to catch up with the new conditions. This morning five or so pelicans flew by in formation, two dolphins rose just past a ten-year-old boy on his board, a sea lion slipped between us all, and my friends bobbed in the waves around me. This is my picture of happiness. 



I saw more sea birds and marine life in the water this morning than all seven days in Honduras combined. We've done a lot of traveling over the last year and a half. There's "no place like home" for me, and protecting it means more to me now than ever. Thing is, we're all connected. What's happening in the Gulf, in the Caribbean, in the remote reaches of the Pacific impacts the California coastline. 

What can I do? This is a question we must all answer for ourselves. I compulsively pick up trash, take photographs of the good, the bad, and the ugly, write down my thoughts, and pass it along to you. Catch.