lifeguard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA
trash collected for 20 minutes
3.5 pounds
1,011.1 pounds total
Like "Where's Waldo?" - "Where's the Ziplock?"
I found only 5 cigarette butts tonight during my 20 minute beach cleanup.
Danielle who writes, "It Starts With Me" found 212 last time she went out to her North Carolina beach. We're keeping count to show the difference between a beach where smoking is banned and one where it's not. Hopefully our findings will help sway local government officials in N.C. to adopt a no smoking policy for their beach. Want to count on your own local beach? You're welcome to join us!
I found three of these packets tonight spaced out along the beach.
A friend passed along this video to me on twitter this week. They call themselves the Litter Grabbers. Their video documents what they found on their stretch of sand, it's a little spoken word, a little video art, and a whole lot of creative energy.
It took me awhile to get back out on the beach after our trip to Honduras. While on the island of Utila we saw a whole lot of trash on the beach, and some floating along the top of the ocean as we made our way out to different dive spots. What we didn't see were the Whale Sharks we'd traveled for, sea turtles, dolphins, whales, sharks, many fish and very few sea birds. It hit me hard in part because this is the third ocean in a year where we've seen coral reef damage and an absence of abundant, healthy marine life. What do I do with my experiences? Part of my personal solution is to write this blog. And so tonight, it felt good to be back in the swing of it, on the beach at sunset, watching three pelicans stream by, and one leaping sea lion. I love Santa Monica. I love the ocean. I love this planet we've got.
