Day 127, June 16 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

5.5 pounds

502.2 pounds total
When I walked onto the beach I saw the remnants of what must have been many Subway lunch boxes strewn across the sand. This was disturbing for many reasons.

1. There was so much trash!

2. The gulls were getting it out of our trash cans because they have no lids!

3. Why couldn't the people who had enjoyed their lunch deposited it in a can that wasn't full by walking oh say......50 feet or so up or down the beach?
Why we need to have lids on trash cans at the beach. Can't change a tiger's stripes. Gulls are scavengers.....
This cup got me thinking again about corporate responsibility in regards to their products end of life, or what lawmakers call - Extended Producer Responsibility.

Basically, the cost of disposing, or reclaiming their product sustainably is incorporated into the cost of making the product.

What a good idea!

Germany is ahead of the curve by years in implementing this practice.

Where is the USA?

BEHIND.
The people are back, and so is the trash. I enjoy seeing families have a day out at the beach. You can see the palpable difference in their faces and demeanor as the sun, waves and sand wash away their stressful life that waits for them maybe even as soon as they get to their cars. But my feelings are mixed about summertime and more people because plainly, there is a lot of trash left behind from their day in the sun.

What if everyone took a bag to the beach and picked up trash that wasn't their own when they left. OR just picked up their own?

Join me this Sunday with Surfrider WLAM Chapter for International Surfing Day's Big Beach Cleanup, there will be prizes and music and lots of fun stuff. COME ALONG

Also - check out Heal the Bay's weekend long event - SAVE OUR SURF

KISS MY COUNTRY helps the GULF

KissMyCountry Shows Their Love for the Gulf Restoration Network
State T-Shirts of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas support Gulf Region Watchdog

KissMyCountry is proud to announce their support of the Gulf Restoration Network with the sale of t-shirts that show the wearer’s love for Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. KissMyCountry will donate 10% of proceeds from the sale of each t-shirt via their web site and an equal donation from sales to wholesale customers.

“Thanks for your concern about the Gulf of Mexico and the impact of BP’s oil drilling disaster. The Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) would greatly appreciate being a recipient of your fundraising efforts.” says Briana Kerstein, Special Projects Coordinator, Gulf Restoration Network.

The Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) is a 15-year old environmental non-profit and the only environmental organization working Gulf-wide in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Florida. The GRN is committed to uniting and empowering people to protect and restore the natural resources of the Gulf Region for future generations. Campaigns focus on fishing, healthy waters, species at risk and sustainable practices to save the Gulf and wetlands. Check out their web site for information, videos, volunteer opportunities and how to donate and KissMyCountry’s blog post on the organization.

T-shirts come in organic cotton or v-neck, are printed on-demand, and are a great way to show your love for a place you love in the Gulf Region. Each state is created in KissMyCountry’s ‘Kiss’ design. KissMyCountry‘s goal is to connect with environmental profits in all 50 states and donate a portion of each t-shirt sold to a state-based group.

In addition to the Gulf Restoration Network, KissMyCountry is showing their support to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center in Florida, EarthShare New Jersey, and The Norbeck Society in South Dakota – the first 7 states toward their 50-state goal. Check out our web site for our group of states and countries. KissMyCountry is about saving the planet and enjoying the planet and saving the places we love. Thank you for showing your love in a KissMyCountry t-shirt and helping to save our planet!

info@kissmycountry.com
www.kissmycountry.com

Here is another savy post about the BP Oil Spill from K.M.C.

Jen Schumacher - Swimmer supporting RISE ABOVE PLASTICS

The Surfrider Chapter of South Orange County has gotten distance swimming star, Jen Schumacher to join Surfrider's RISE ABOVE PLASTICS campaign. After swimming though trash for many years - most of it plastic - Schumacher reached out to Surfrider to ask for assistance in raising awareness against the plastic trash plaguing our oceans. The S.O.C. chapter responded and last Sat. she swam around the Island of Manhattan to draw attention to our joint cause.

Jen Schumacher, a 24 year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate student competed as a solo swimmer in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a current-assisted 28.5-mile race in New York with the goal to raise money and awareness for the “Rise Above Plastics” campaign of the Surfrider Foundation.

Last Saturday, June 12^th, she started at approximately 7:25 a.m with an expected completion time between 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. depending on conditions. A minimum of 8.5 hours in the water! She finished 4th!

She started and finished at South Cove, in Battery Park on the Hudson River. Swimmers navigated around the Battery then headed north up the East River, and swam counter-clockwise around Manhattan Island. They then swam north into the Harlem River, through Spuyten Duyvil, and then south down the Hudson River to the Battery.

Schumacher is a long time NOVA swimmer, and former coach who is currently working on her Masters degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis on Sport Psychology at California State University Fullerton. Schumacher swims and trains off the beaches of Orange County, California (see http://jenschumacher.com for details and GPS map). On August 14^th, 2009, Schumacher became the 165^th person to swim across the Catalina Channel, a 21-mile stretch between Doctor’s Cove on Catalina Island and Palos Verdes Peninsula, in a time of 9:02:48. Because she is passionate about protecting beaches and oceans, Schumacher will give a portion of each donation to the South OC Surfrider Foundation http://www.surfrider.org/southorangecounty/ to support the “Rise Above Plastics” campaign.

R.A.P. - The program seeks to reduce the amount of plastics making their way into our beach and marine environments though education and outreach efforts.

In California our RAP campaign is focused on passing monumental legislation, AB 1998, which bans single use plastic bags from grocery, convenience, pharmacies and liquor stores in 2012. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign the bill into law if passed by the Senate this summer, setting the tone nationwide to rid this costly blight from our oceans and waterways.

Visit the program’s website, www.riseaboveplastics.org, to learn about how plastics impact our marine and coastal environments, as well as find information on how to take steps to reduce plastic “footprint.”

The Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS) is a counter-clockwise circumnavigation of the island of Manhattan, a 28.5-mile current-assisted race put on by NYC Swim. This international event attracts a large applicant pool, yet only 25 solo swimmers are accepted to race in this prestigious competition along with several 2, 4 and 6-person relay teams.

MIMS is a fundraiser specifically to help underprivileged children in the New York area get into swimming and to raise awareness about the need to clean up the waters of New York, and for the charity of each participant's choice.

MIMS is challenging in many unique ways. The majority of the swim is with the favor of the tide, however at several key points swimmers will be against the current at and must race to beat the tide. Swimmers face murky and at times smelly water and may run into random flotsam and jetsam. Because of this, swimmers are encouraged to have current tetanus and hepatitis vaccinations.

My uncle James Bayles also participated in the race. He is in his 50's and has a daughter who has suffered from Epilepsy for her entire life. He raised money for the Epilepsy Foundation of Conn. An email update from my uncle after the race said that is heart rate after he got out of the water was 100 bpm. He knows that he has had a "good race" - he has also done the Catalina swim - if when he gets out of the water, he is not out of breath. After an 8 to 9 hour swim, how many people in the world can say that? Probably most of the elite 25 who had the privilege to race last Sat.

Thank you to my uncle and to Jen Schumacher for standing up for what they believe in by competing in an extraordinary, and difficult sport.

WORLD OCEAN'S DAY - JUNE 8, 2010

WORLD OCEANS DAY - JUNE 8TH, 2010

DAY 33 - SANTA MONICA, CA

11.2 POUNDS COLLECTED BY 11 PEOPLE IN 20 MIN.

COMMUNITY COLLECTION COUNT TOTAL 229.6

In honor of World Oceans Day, Ocean Hero winners from Green Chimneys Deborah and Robin, Julianna Stein from Oceana, Jon Frank from Oceana, Garen Baghdasarian, Dean Miya, Mark Armen from Gulpable, and myself met at the Santa Monica Pier to do a Daily Ocean style beach cleanup.

We collected from the pier to Shutters Hotel, which is about a 20 min. walk down the beach.

We all decided that today was the day of the cigarette. Our group picked up dozens.

Of course, we couldn't have a cleanup without a candy wrapper. Three most common types of trash that are found on the beach:

1. cigarette butts

2. candy wrappers

3. fast food wrappers

I would amend this list to put anything made from plastic right at the top.....

Shutters hotel that looks out on the beach, but sits right on top of the Pico-Kenter storm drain, which in the rainy season is a sludgy, polluted nightmare running straight into the pacific but today was neatly buried in sand...
Above is Deborah Bernstein of Green Chimneys who won the Junior Ocean Hero Award for their Shark Fanatics program. Deborah and Green Chimney teacher Robin were so much fun to meet and the award was well deserved. Read more about their program here.

Dean, Deborah and Robin at the Oceana World Oceans Day party sponsored by QG and Nautica at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Hollywood. Robin was beaming, as she should have been. Congratulations!!!!

The CEO of Oceana awarding the Ocean Hero Award to Robin

Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of the representative from the IBRRC (International Bird Research and Rescue Center) that came up from Long Beach to accept on behalf of Jay Halcomb who is in the Gulf right now rescuing birds from the oil spill. It was a somber day of celebration as we all reflected on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill disaster now decimating the Gulf of Mexico.

Thank you IBRRC and Jay for all of your hard work. And a well deserved Ocean Hero Award. For more about what they do, read more here.

Please wtch Julliana Stein's message about World Oceans Day below

then go to: STOP THE DRILL to sign Oceana's petition

Community Count - Groovy News Network - Day 126

Day 32 - 5 pounds for a total of 218.4

Cayo Costa Island in SW Florida ~ Cayo Costa island became a park in 1976 when it was acquisitioned by the state of Florida. The park is 2,416 acres of undisturbed beauty boasting nine miles of beautiful beaches as well as pine forests, oak-palm hammocks, and mangrove swamps.

The only way to get to it is by boat & the part we go to is at the other end, away from the state park entrance, etc.. It is a beautiful pristine place w/ wild pigs & a wide variety of other wildlife ~ in & out of the sea. We were happy to find a sea turtle nest near where we were & a manatee swam past our boat. The shelling & snorkeling is amazing & the island needs to be nurtured & protected. Every time we go, we always do a beach clean up.

I am so happy to report that we found very little trash. A portion of the trash consisted of cigarette butts, which was an excellent example of how long they take to degrade & stay in the environment. Previously plastic was more common, but there haven't been many storms, which is probably the reason for the lack of plastics.

Not 5 min. into our beach clean up a sacrifice for the cause was given. Though I had flip flops on, a tree stump, dried nicely by the sun & sand, w/ razor sharp wood was in my path as I was walking.... I unfortunately was not looking where I was going :o) & it gored the side of my foot (pic. included). We doctored it & continued collecting what trash we could find for 20 min.. The accumulated trash weighed approximately 5 lbs. w/ the diaper :oP, full can of tobacco, bottles, etc..

We collect trash every where we go! But, I highly recommend, when cleaning up wild & wooded beach areas, wearing closed toe water shoes, & have gloves & a first aid kit on hand!

SORRY FOR YOUR FOOT SACRAFICE, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMMUNITY COUNT!!

go to THE GROOVY NEWS NETWORK "YOUR SOURCE FOR NEWS, STORIES, RESOURCES OF INSPIRATION & HOPE"

MY GOAL - TO HAVE PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD SEND ME PICTURES OF WHAT THEY COLLECT FROM A BEACH IN 20 MIN. HOW MUCH IT WEIGHED AND THEIR THOUGHTS....HOW ABOUT YOU?

International Surfing Day with Surfrider, June 20

JOIN THE DAILY OCEAN AND WLAM SURFRIDER CHAPTER ON SUN. JUNE 20

FOR A BEACH CLEANUP, RAFFLE, PRIZES, PASTRIES, MUSIC & SURFING

TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL SURFING DAY

WHERE: TOWER 26, OCEAN PARK SANTA MONICA (Ocean Park Blvd. meets Barnard Way)

WHAT TIME: *CLEANUP FROM 9:00 - 10:30 with prize giveaways, 11 Surfing/Paddle out begginers and all levels welcome!!

A NOTE ON THE CLEANUP- I collect for 20 min. so we are going to take inspiration from that and have you collect for 20 min. too! We will weigh everyone's collection at the end to add to the Community Count Collection of The Daily Ocean.

So come anytime btwn 9 & 10:30 to cleanup for 20 min. to enter the raffles, then hang out and enjoy the food, music, sun and surf! Raffle and prizes will be called at 10:30.

WHY: TO HAVE FUN IN THE WATER AND REMEMBER TO TAKE CARE OF OUR BEACHES AND OCEANS BY MAKING SHIFTS IN YOUR OWN LIFE LIKE:

- CUT BACK ON SINGLE-USE DISPOSABLE PACKAGING

- DON'T DRINK BOTTLED WATER, USE YR OWN REUSABLE CONTAINER AND TAP H20

- CHOOSE PRODUCTS WITH LESS PACKAGING

- NEED SOMETHING? BUY IT USED. EBAY, THRIFT STORES, LOCAL CRAIG'S LIST

- BRING YOUR OWN - MUG, BAG, TUPPERWARE, UTENSILS

- BUY LESS STUFF!

YOU'LL WANT TO DO ALL OF THIS AFTER YOU PICK UP - WITH YOUR OWN TWO HANDS - ALL THE POINTLESS TRASH - MOST OF IT PLASTIC - THAT IS ENDING UP IN OUR OCEANS.

SURFRIDER VOLUNTEERS AT A RECENT BEACH CLEANUP AT TOWER 26

ENJOY A LIVE AUCOUSTIC SET FROM THE BAND LA VIE PICTURED ABOVE

FREE RAFFLE FOR SURFBOARD AND WETSUIT RENTALS COURTESY OF LOCAL ZJ BOARDING HOUSE ON MAIN ST. IN SANTA MONICA

FREE FIREWIRE SURFBOARD DEMOS COURTESY OF ABROR IN VENICE

SO JOIN US!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET WET

BUT YOU MAY WIN COOL PRIZES

GET SOME FREE GRUB

LISTEN TO GOOD MUSIC

HAVE FUN

WHILE REMEMBERING THAT CHANGE STARTS ONE PERSON AT A TIME....

HOW ABOUT YOU?

GO TO: http://tinyurl.com/intlsurfingdayla TO R.S.V.P. OR JUST SHOW UP!

OR GO TO: http://www.surfriderwlam.org

Day 126 - June 7, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

4.4 pounds

496.7 pounds total
I've seen a sea gull eat one of these in front of me. Just gulped it down whole. Not one of my favorite memories at the beach.

Carl Safina was on PBS recently talking about the Gulf Oil Spill, the danger of dispersants, and calling this disaster big oil's Chernobyl. That sounds awful to me, but he may be right....
My uncle Jimmy will be swimming this weekend in a race that circles Manhattan. He is raising money for the Epilepsy Foundation of Conn. because my niece is a long time sufferer of the disease.

Here is a link to the swim. I am very proud of my uncle. This swim is part of distance swimming's "triple crown" -- the English Channel, LA to Catalina, and around NYC.

Jim Bayles, 58 of Newtown, CT is again raising money for charity through long distance swimming. This is Jim’s 18^thswimming event for charity and his 10^th for Epilepsy. Jim has always selected different venues in which to swim, including the English Channel. Some of his post-English Channel swims include a swim from Chatham, MA across the Pollack Rip Channel to Nantucket Island, from Point Judith to Block Island, from Westport, CT to Port Jefferson, NY and some of the lakes near his house, including Lakes Lillinonah, Zoar and Candlewood in Connecticut. Before his Channel swim, he became the first and perhaps only person, to swim under all the major bridges in the Tri-State region by, in successive years, swimming from the Tappan Zee Bridge to Midtown, Manhattan, from Greenwich, CT to Downtown, Manhattan and from Sandy Hook, NJ to Battery Park also in Downtown Manhattan.

Come to the Santa Monica Pier at 10:30 AM tomorrow. Meet me at the Sport Fishing Pier Sign at the top of the road down to the pier on Ocean Ave. for a 20 minute cleanup in honor of World Ocean Day with some local friends, and Oceana. I get to meet some other Ocean Hero Finalists tomorrow. I'm very excited. It is last minute, but don't you want to play hookie and join us?

Day 125 - June 4, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

1.7 pounds /2 = .8 for the COMMUNITY COUNT COLLECTION - DEAN MIYA

492.3 pounds total

213.4 pounds for COMMUNITY COUNT COLLECTION in 31 days
Dean Miya came out with me tonight for Day 125. Dean found my blog online, read it, and realized that I collected right where he surfed most often and so he contacted me. Not only did he come out to be a part of my Community Collection Count (and you can too), but he also donated to help me get to Sacramento to lobby for AB 1998 - the proposed ban on single-use plastic bags in CA that passed the State Assembly last week!

So another big thank you to Dean for his support.

He told me about a film that he and his wife just saw in the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride Co. recently called BAG IT. (I have the trailer in a post below)

BAG IT -"What starts as a film about plastic bags, evolves into a wholesale investigation into plastic and its effect on our lives, bodies and waterways."

I just watched the full length film. Now I am sitting here on a Saturday night feeling like we can't just BAG IT. The definition of BAG IT being used here as synonymous with giving up. There is way too much at stake. What is happening to our bodies and environment is just not ok. But if you've found The Daily Ocean, you probably feel that way too. Here are some facts and thoughts swirling around my head from watching BAG IT.
In the USA we use 1 million single-use plastic bags a minute, that is 60,000 bags consumed every 5 seconds

We use 2 million plastic water bottles every 5 minutes in the USA

In 2008 - water bottle sales reached 12 billion dollars

single-use plastic bags are the #1 consumer item in the world.

countries/cities/territories that have banned single-use plastic bags:

New Delhi, Bangladesh, Bhutan China in 2008, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tansania, Rwanda, South Africa, Ireland (bag fee - since inception a 90% reduction)...and there are many more

Why do we use something for only a few minutes that is made from a material you throw away and then lasts for thousands of years in landfills or in our oceans?

(re: plastic packaging and convenience items)

The average American produces 1 ton of trash per year.

Every day NYC produces enough trash to fill YANKEE STADIUM 3X

THE RECYCLING SYMBOL IS NOT REGULATED - the chasing arrows -

ONLY 1 AND 2 ARE EASILY RECYCLED

every municipality has different guidelines for recycling except one thing is consistent - the tops of plastic bottles are not recyclable

massive human rights issues exist with recycling packaging. the plastics industry doesn't want to take back most "recyclables" so it ships them over seas to Asia where people are paid a low wage to sort through the trash from the USA and lots of it is melted down releasing lots of toxic fumes and chemicals directly into the atmosphere.

Adult Albatross bring 5 tons of plastic every year to Midway Atoll to feed their chicks. (Midway Atoll is in the middle of the pacific, further west from the most commonly known Hawaiian Islands...)

"No one is without power, everyone has the capacity to do something." - Sylvia Earle

At the end of the film, the narrator Jeb Barrier came up with a summary to explain his personal journey that inspired him, and director Suzan Beraza, to make BAG IT. Although I have just begun this blog (I am a third of the way through) I feel similarly -

I did start out writing a blog about beach cleanups because I knew there was something very wrong about the ammount of trash on our beaches and in our oceans, but like any journey it has become so much more..it led me straight to the environmental scourge of single-use plastics. I collect trash to illustrate our global, growing problem that is going to take each and every one of us to change.

You with me?

The stakes are too high to not get involved, starting wherever you are, right now at your computer, in your house, in your community. And thanks to those of you who work tirelessly on our behalf. I am proud to know a handful of people interviewed in BAG IT - check them out, what they are up to, support them and again, a huge THANK YOU

Wallace J Nichols

Beth Terry

Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins

Oceana

Surfrider

AB 1998 PASSES OUT OF STATE ASSEMBLY!!

NEXT STOP - STATE SENATE. WE HAVE A REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WHO SUPPORTS THIS BILL TO BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAGS. IF CALIFORNIA CAN GET THIS BILL SIGNED INTO LAW, WE WILL BE THE FIRST STATE IN CALIFORNIA TO BAN THESE NASTY LITTLE BUGGERS.

I'M FEELING PRETTY GOOD ABOUT THIS!

HERE IS ANOTHER BLOG CALLED BAG MONSTER WRITTEN BY CHICO BAGS THAT HAS MORE DETAIL

BELOW IS A TRAILER FOR A FILM CALLED, "BAG IT." DEAN MIYA WHO READS THE DAILY OCEAN SAW THIS FILM IN THE TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL AND EMAILED IT TO ME TODAY. I LOVE IT. ENJOY.

Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.

Paper or Plastic - Gov. of CA wants neither