The Peace Troop Cleans the Beach - Oct 25

Life Guard Tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min. by 11 4th grade girls and their families!

estimated pounds collected today - 9

estimated pounds collected in Community Count to date -
I met the Peace Troop last Sunday night on the beach to collect trash and as the sun sank lower towards the Pacific.

We first met at the Roots and Shoots Day of Peace back in late Sept.. They came to the Santa Monica Pier to help work the Surfrider booth and that is where I was lucky enough to meet them.

The Peace Troop formed to give their 13 members who joined a chance to learn more about environmental issues, and volunteer in different capacities to make a difference.

I think the Girl Scouts might not have been anywhere near as green minded as these girls wanted to be.
Sometimes we found beautiful things on the beach.
Our only wish when we saw this sand sculpture was that it wasn't a real Sea Turtle!
Here are a few suggestions of environmental organizations that have programs with kids in mind.

The NRDC - this link provides over 50 other links organized by the different environmental issues they cover. An incredible resource for any teacher, parent, or kid.

Heal the Bay - has an aquarium on the Santa Monica Pier with a kids corner!

WWF - your child wants a pet, but you can't have one? Well adopt one of these real ones. And the best thing is they don't have to move in with you. In fact, umm.. they probably shouldn't.
Can solutions be as small as cleaning a beach together as a family?

Yes.

Do solutions also need to be as big as the upcoming conference on climate change in Denmark this December?

Yes.

Small efforts accumulate to larger results, and big efforts make sweeping change.

Both approaches are needed, and welcomed.

Want to come to a beach cleanup with me like The Peace Troop did? Sure! Just ask, I'm there. My email can be found on my blog or just leave me a comment below this post.

Two Peace Troopers down by the surf at sunset.
My sincere thanks to all the girls that came out that day and the parents that came with them. This weekend was a really special one for me. One that I will remember for a long time. Thanks for being a part of it, for your effort, smiles, and concern for the environment. I hope to see you all soon!

Thank you ecycle

Friends forwarded other friends about last Sat. Blogger Beach Cleanup and Brenda from eCycle decided to post about The Daily Ocean on her website.

I was sent the link to the article and was really stunned that she had taken so much time to cover my project in entirety. I can't say thank you enough for passing the word.

Hopefully one of the effects The Daily Ocean will have is that people will come up with their own ways to help the environment by deciding to do something that feels manageable and fits into their daily life.

That they start where they are, commit to a simple act that doesn't feel overwhelming and build on it.

The Daily Ocean started with me one day grabbing a bag and driving down the road to my local beach to collect trash......

What can you do today? What can you start?

Read Brandy's post here.

Look at their site, eCycle is a great idea: Printer Cartridge, Cell Phone, and MP3 Player Recycling.

Know anyone who has one of those? Brilliant, thank you!!