Day 34 - July 6

Life Guard Station 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

estimated pounds of trash collected today - 4.2

estimated pounds of trash collected to date - 197.6

A Thomas the Train Band-aid. Let's pass right over how gross it is to find used band-aids on the beach, even ones with cute trains, and move on to a children's book that comes to mind. "All the Way to the Ocean" by the Save our Seas Foundation. It is printed with Soy Ink, and on recycled paper from the Living Tree Paper Company. On the last page of the book it lists the natural resources saved by printing with these two techniques. 

They also have a site just for kids. Save Our Seas For Kids. I read this book to some of my ceramics classes that I teach over the summer at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena CA. This book kicks off a project that gets kids to think about how they can use their creativity as an artist to help a cause they believe in. Clearly, the book I choose to read them illustrates mine. Artists transcend language, and often grab people's attention in an immediate and emotional way. You save what you love, and art can show you the love the artist has for its subject to you. Hopefully that feeling is contagious. 
Cigarettes Kill Fish According to a New Study 

"In fact, researchers would like to have the butts classified as hazardous waste."
The Blue Ocean Institute has a list of "What you can do" that included two things that caught my attention. (The Blue Ocean Institute is listed as a link on my blog.)

1. Read the labels on your pet's food.  Avoid buying pet food that contains fish meal.  According to a recent article in the New York Times, by Paul Greenberg, the pet food industry uses about 10 percent of the global supply of forage fish. The removal of wild forage fish threatens to starve whales, seals, and other predators.  Sardines, anchovies, mackerel and other pelagic forage fish should be used to feed humans.  Adding to the problem, fish meal is also fed to farm animals, the swine industry consumes 24 percent of fish meal and oil, and the poultry industry takes as much as 22 percent.  Therefore, even if you avoid pet foods that list fish meal as an ingredient, Fluffy may be indirectly enjoying a seafood meal. As Greenberg concludes, we need to insist that land-based animals stick to eating land-grown food.  To read the article, click here.  

2. This one seems so obvious, but is stated beautifully. Go on, try it!

Experience it.  This is the best way to gain the inspiration that will ultimately fuel your actions to help protect the oceans. Go on, slip into that watery realm—grab a mask and just float for awhile. Or, if swimming isn't your thing, take a boat ride on a small boat—the kind that when a wave comes you'll feel some spray. Or walk along the seashore, collect some shells, skip some rocks, watch the moon pull the tide.  We also recommend renting or buying the BBC's Blue Planet—an incredible look beneath the waves in those places most of us will never quite get to.  You can also check out Blue Ocean's photo gallery to see some spectacular images of this watery realm.  Get to know this largest living space on the planet. It is a world of inspiration, vitality, mystery, remarkable beauty, and untold promise.  Learn what is there and let yourself be inspired.