Day 174 - November 19, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

2.1 pounds

682.2 pounds total
I try to go running on the beach. Before I set out, I tell myself that it is OK if I run past some of the trash that I see along the way. I reassure myself that, "I do enough!" I can enjoy a little half hour run without feeling guilty!

But I can't get very far.

I'll run past some things, and then something will catch my eye, like a boogie board leash, and I think oh man, I have to get that! Think of the damage that loose, plastic rope could do to some animal or sea bird? SO I pick it up.

Then I pick up a big plastic bag. Perhaps after I have ran past a few smaller items since I now feel off the hook by having the boogie board leash in my hand. I mean, how many people do you see running with trash in their hands?

SO I pass a Cheetos bag, or a water bottle. But then I see another piece of litter I just can't go by. Now my hands are full. This means I then have to run to the beach trash cans, (and I hate using those...it just feels wrong to throw something away there, like there it has a higher likelihood of escaping the open top confines and sprinting back to the ocean. I'm revealing my fanaticism, aren't I?)

Anyhow, I get to the can, I'm completely winded from the run in the loose, dry sand, and inevitably I just head back to the bike path away from the beach because I just can't take the multiple treks back to the trash can thru the dry sand that I know are coming if I carry on at the water's edge. One part lazy, two parts?

Maybe it's as simple as not being able to run away from caring.

I found so many of these today. It made me think about the bill that got killed last year in the CA State Senate - SB #something-or-other - was a law to leash your lid to the bottle.

Kind of like how we used to pull the top off of the aluminum cans until someone figured out how to leave them attached by just pushing them under. We have the technology now to do the same for bottles. There is a man, with his factory all geared up and ready to go, in South Carolina that has the technology in place.

Now we just need the willingness to change.
I wish people who came to the beach to enjoy a joint would just put this damned plastic tip in their pocket after they've rolled their blunt. Did I just write blunt like I use that word in my everyday life?

Well, I don't.

But when I see "Philly Blunt" wrappers, and cigarillo plastic stubs, I'm not too old to figure it out that they ain't smoking cigars out here.

So BEFORE you smoke pot on the beach by rolling it in the cigar paper that is usually attached to this little plastic nubbins - try, PLEASE try to put that thing in your pocket before you light up. Please?
And then take this wrapper with you after you've satisfied your munchies. I can't believe I am writing this. I think it is funny right now, but maybe I should rethink this post before I publish it?

I'm not condoning getting stoned, but if I were to get baked, (clearly I'm in 10th grade again) the beach is a great place to do it. Which brings me to an interesting point.

We can't stop people from doing what they are going to do. We can try, (and all of this is my silly opinion now), we can make sweeping changes by implementing laws, fines, and the like but folks are going to do what they want.

Prohibition anyone? (by the way...you MUST watch Boardwalk Empire. I'm just saying. HBO. Brilliant!)

I just want to advocate for cleaning up after ourselves once we've gotten what we came for. To enjoy a spectacular sunset, a place to hang with your family, a spot to sit quietly by yourself. It strikes me as a way to sort of pay that place back by leaving it as it was when you came, or making it even better. What has gotten into me today with the preachy preach stuff?? Apologies.

From left to right: Ross (producer and sound engineer), Brett - D.P. extraordinaire & Destin - Director

Destin Cretton and crew out on the beach to shoot a short for the Sundance channel. Destin won best Short in last year's Sundance festival for Short Term 12. And if I am not mistaken, the congratulations extends to all three of them since I think everyone in this shot was part of that production. I know great things await for these uber cool, creative guys with easy going outlooks and passions galore for what they want to do in the challenging world of film.

Day 173 - November 16, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

1.2 pounds

680.1 pounds total

Community Count Day 71 - Doctor Heather Lounsbury - thank you Heather!

catch her next Blog Talk Radio show tomorrow!

Santa Monica, CA

trash collected for 20 min.

.5 pounds

573 pounds

The Daily Ocean combined total = 1253.1

Today the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to ban single-use plastic bags in LA County. What a victory! The BAG MONSTERS were out (Yay Chico Bags!!!) and so were Surfrider and Heal the Bay. I missed it because of a stomach bug I'm fighting off - insert big bummer sigh here - but I am extremely proud that LA County took decisive action to become the biggest municipality to ban the bag in the USA! Hip-hip-hooray! Read Team Marine's coverage on their blog too.
The International Bird Rescue Research Center caught a gull that had been collared by a beer can and removed it! But they think that someone is doing this on purpose to these birds. Please read their post for the number to call if you spot a bird that has a beer can around its neck for all of you who live in the bay area.
Here is a report from Maine on what is washing up there. The Flotsam Diaries is written by my fellow trash trudger Harry. He has great observations on what's hitting the sand all the way up in Northern Maine.
Have you see the Story of Stuff, the Story of Bottled Water or the new Story of Electronics? Well they are awesome short films that are jam packed with illuminating info. on what really happens to the many products we buy from start to finish. Start with the newest edition - The Story of Electronics.

Annie Leonard talks about, "design for the dump....making stuff to throw away quickly."

Makes sense if the companies making this stuff want us to buy more, and in fact they depend on it. But she has a better idea - that's not so new - "Product Take Back," also called EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY. These laws are popping up all over Europe and Asia.

And let's not export our 25 MILLION POUNDS of E-WASTE a year to other countries like China.

Day 172- Nov. 15, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

1.6 pounds

678.9 pounds total

The author of a new blog called, "PLASTIC SEEDS" contacted me today. She is a SAMOHI' alum, and wishes that Team Marine was around for her when she was going there!

Her blog so far investigates topics like Bisephenol A - or BPA. Here is a well written, and disturbing excerpt from a post:

"BPA is the raw material of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. It’s the chemical compound that makes plastic clear and shatterproof, and it’s found in a vast array of consumables: water bottles, baby bottles, dental sealants, cash receipts, plastic plate ware, pipes, and maybe most disturbingly, in the linings of canned food. The U.S. makes seven billion pounds of BPA each year which translates to an unfathomable amount of products. And, to go along with the enormous amounts of BPA that get locked up in consumables are the measurable amounts found in our bodies and the environment. Cases in point: the chemical is detected in over 90% of urine samples taken from random U.S. citizens, and, scientists have uncovered BPA in every sample of ocean water and sand from over 200 sites from North America to Southeast Asia. So, when you hear that BPA is everywhere, it really is everywhere."
Here's what's happening tomorrow in downtown LA to ban single use plastic bags, and it is oh-so-exciting! Oh yeah - YOU'RE INVITED!!! Join us, join Heal the Bay and make history

"History will be made November 16^th. Please join Heal the Bay in supporting the Board of Supervisors as they vote to ban plastic bags in Los Angeles County unincorporated areas. The rally will precede the meeting on the steps of the Hall of Administration. Please stay and testify in support of the ordinance. With a population of over a million people, this will be the largest municipality in the country to ban the use of plastic bags. "
Ahhh...the magic of twitter. Natalie of "Plastic Seeds" said that "twitter is our match.com." Our being perhaps the enviros, ngo's and other fab. folks loving OUR planet. And I think she is right. Just look who I found via twitter:

THE TWO HANDS PROJECT: ALL IT TAKES IS 30 MIN., TWO HANDS, TO CLEAN THE WORLD

They are in Australia, so it is not all that likely that I would have bumped into them if it were not for the twittersphere.

Here is their "How to participate page". They really break cleaning up our world into 5 easy steps. Check it out, maybe do it? And then tell others!

looking the other way

This is what the beach looks like south of lifeguard tower 26, which is the first photo in every Daily Ocean post.

As you may have noticed, up at the top of The Daily Ocean is a DONATE button from paypal. Here is what you are donating to:

My husband (a Marine Biologist) and I want to join the 5 Gyres Institutes's research expedition across the South Pacific this spring to study plastic pollution in the world's oceans, it's effects on marine life, and human health. I am going to blog the hell out of our trip while also being Garen's research assistance. But we can't get there alone. We need your help to cross the 4860 miles of ocean that are spanning out in front of us. Here's all the details. And thanks!

Day 171 - Nov. 12, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

1.7 pounds

677.3 pounds total

Community Count Day 70

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

1.9 pounds

572.5 pounds total

The Daily Ocean combined total - 1249.8 pounds

I felt slightly voyeuristic taking this photo, but their anonymity is in tact thanks to the shadowy light of sunset.

The 5 Gyres crew has set sail across the South Atlantic. Many of them have succumbed to the common adjustment of eminent sea sickness that will "feed the fishes," but the eclectic crew is underway to study one of the least surveyed gyres for accumulating plastic pollution and persistent organic compounds.

Garen and I will be joining the team heading out in March from Chile. Please help if you can. Every facebook post counts, every dollar, every tweet, every conversation and email that passes on the information we need to desperately get out to "millions of people, not thousands, as Pangea Exploration's Sea Dragon blog says: (Pangea is partnered with 5 Gyres)

The crew despite their illnesses, are all top notch and I’m inspired by each of their life stories. As always, The 5 Gyres Institute looks for different accolades in our crew, from science, to art to education. It’s our firm belief as an organization that the science of plastic pollution can no longer remain just in academia, and thus we need filmmakers, artists, activists, pro surfers, educators and world sailors to share in our mission to change the world’s addiction to single use plastic. We need to reach millions, not thousands.

"Yes, on these voyages we’ll come across tremendous horrors, being confronted with the stain of our culture, but we’re reminded of what we wish to protect in every sunset, in every moonrise and every new appearance of a celestial body in the gloaming."
An extra HUGE thank you needs to go out to Jon who came to the beach with me last night for the 171st beach cleanup. Here's why:

We can upon this plastic bag buried under the sand at 18 min. and 35 sec. into our 20 minute cleanup. I think I speak for both of us when I say that I was sure we could unearth it fairly quickly.

28 minutes later, and with very little light, we finally dug out the tearing plastic garbage bag.
As we looked at the once buried plastic Jon said, "Just imagine what kind of damage this one bag could have done in the water."

"Especially because it's clear," I said, thinking about all of the sea turtles who mistake the floating plastic reaching the oceans for their familiar food of choice - jellyfish.

Fact: LA County ALONE uses 6 BILLION = 6,000,000,000 SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS IN ONE YEAR

COME OUT THIS TUES. TO DOWNTOWN LA TO SUPPORT THE BAN ON SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS IN LA COUNTY.

Here's a link to Heal the Bay for more details.

And I hear there's a pretty nasty cold going around...practice your cough for the Tues. morning phone in to work.

sick day

I'm not feeling very well today, but a fall cold is nothing compared to what this bird had to go through.

This is an image that the environmental activist photographer Chris Jordan passed around today in response to a very misleading campaign that the American Chemistry Council launched called - "PLASTICS MAKE IT POSSIBLE"

I don't even want to put a link to it here because I feel weird about it, like it would encourage them in some way....but you can google it for yourself.

I'll let you decide for yourself what you think of this shameless green-washing.

Day 170 - Nov. 9, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

2 pounds

675.6 pounds
It was a hard night to be out there. I took a few pictures of bigger pieces of trash when the light was just fading, but then my efforts quickly turned to the thousands of fragmented bits of styrofoam littering the high tide line. I spent 20 minutes picking up those bits, which is frustrating on many levels. The one that is sticking out in my mind as I write is that I couldn't possibly get it all. Maybe that is an appropriate metaphor for the frustrating nature of getting all the trash - mostly made from plastic - out of the world's oceans....
One great thing that happened was that a woman came up to me and asked, "Are you picking up plastic?" She'd watched the TEDx conference Great Pacific Garbage Patch that happened here in Santa Monica on Sat. hosted by the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Turns out we have a lot in common and she is up to great things, one of which is writing for the Huff Post on environmental issues. Here name is Deborah Bassett. We're going to hopefully go for coffee to break it all down. Thank you BIG time to the PPC for hosting such a world changing event!

Heard of EPIC CHANGE? Got to check this out!

They raise money to make loans to help organizations share their stories, then work to repay the loan which in turn goes on to foster other epic changes in still more communities!

One great message I just got on twitter was from a woman in Maui who spent 20 min. with 20 people to collect cigarette butt liter off the beach. They got 670 butts! Danielle of It Starts with Me blog came here over the summer and took back the idea of doing 20 min. cigarette butt collections to her Wrightsville Beach community in N.C.. Well thanks to social media more folks have heard of her efforts, and she is so gracious to always point back to The Daily Ocean but really the only, and coolest thing that matters is that people are getting totally inspired to clean up their beaches, learn about the issues surrounding all of that trash and they are sparking change! Couldn't really ask for more than that....

Here is PART TWO of Stuart Moody of Green Sangha's successful cigarette butt story:

A week after my experience in Marin (where someone was thankful for the info. about cig. butt liter he gave them), I was sitting outside the BART station in San Leandro, waiting for AC Transit. Next to me was a young man with nearly-shaved head, a tank top showing several tattoos, and arms nearly as broad as my legs. He threw a smoking cigarette to the ground. Heartened by my earlier experience, I began to tell him the same thing I had said in Novato. He wouldn't let me finish. "You mean I should throw it in the trash?" "Yes," I said, "after putting it out." He picked it up and tossed in the garbage can. I thanked him, and reflected silently: people generally do not want to do harm; if we can tell them nicely how to live more kindly on the earth, they just might be grateful for our advice.

A Tibetan Monk pouring sand from the mandala into the Santa Monica Bay

My friend Debbie works with Tibetan monks in Tehachapi CA. Last week they held a residency at the UCLA Hammer Museum where a team of trained monks drew a sand mandala that took them an entire week to complete. Then they had a ceremony - dedicating all of the focused power of concentrated loving compassion that went into the making of the mandala - swept the entire thing up - walked to the water from WESTWOOD and poured all the sand in as a prayer to the world.

Wherever that sand goes (mined from near their monastery in Nepal) their wish is that is spreads loving compassion to all the places, and beings it touches. Doesn't it make you feel better about the world that people like this, and events like these are going on amidst it all?

Say 169 - Nov. 5, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

1.5 pounds

673.6 pounds total

I am very excited to share the inauguration of CRAPOLA ISLANDS - a place so remote - growing so steadily - "A PLACE SO QUIET AND SERENE YOU CAN LITERALLY HEAR A WHALE CHOKING." - become a citizen today!
Tonight was about extricating tiny-f-ing-pieces of plastic wrappers like the one above from the high tide line. Excuse the slightly out of focus photo complete with partial finger blur in the bottom, but I just HAD to show you what I was up against....

This was a very interesting post on GRIST that was forwarded to me today:

"Another problem may be how we as a nation address fossil-fuel-fired climate impacts on our public seas -- such as acidification, loss of Arctic sea ice, and sea-level rise -- when climate-change denial has become an ideological rather than science-based issue for many Republican office holders. More than half of Tea Party supporters believe global warming poses no problem, while 85 percent of the general public thinks it does, according to a recent New York Times/CBS poll. Not coincidentally, many of the key groups backing Tea Party candidates, such as Americans for Prosperity, are also funded by the oil industry."

Part One of a story from Stuart Moody of Green Sangha in the SF Bay Area about asking someone to dispose of a cigarette butt: (it's a good mood-elevating-kind of story)

One afternoon, I was standing at the bus pad on Highway 101 at Rowland Blvd. in Novato. A man at the stop was smoking a cigarette, speaking on a mobile phone. He finished the cigarette, dropped it to the ground, and put it out under his shoe. He was not speaking English on the phone, so I didn't know whether he would understand me. But I approached him and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I recently learned that cigarette filters are not biodegradable. They wash down the gutter into the bay and ocean, and sometimes birds or fish will eat them and it hurts them. If we could throw the filters in the trash can after putting them out, then we could save those animals." He looked at me for a moment. Then he said, "Thank you for your information." I thanked him, and walked away. A moment later, he picked up the cigarette butt and carried it to the trash can.

Day 168 - Nov. 3, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

3.3 pounds collected

672.1 pounds total
From what I could tell - this is a full plastic garbage bag of clothing that was left on the beach next to - not in - the garbage can. Curious.

I want to talk about something that I may not have mentioned before. What do I do with the trash I collect from the beach? This is the most anti-climactic part of my collection. I throw it away. But I know that there is no "away." I know that there is a good chance that it might end up in the ocean anyway if pieces get blown out of garbage trucks, or away from landfills. I know that I can't get rid of the trash, and that the plastics I take from the water's edge will take thousands of years to degrade - if they ever do. And I know that I will find more trash on the same beach the very next time I come out on the sand.

SO: what gives me a little comfort is -

1. I've taken pictures so you can see that the stuff we all use in our daily lives ends up on beautiful beaches, and then into the ocean.

2. I write about what I'm learning, and my thoughts here. Hopefully this is useful to help us all think about how we can change our own daily lives to stimulate the change we need. We are the most powerful place to start.

3. I have taken this trash off the beach and disposed of it somewhere else. This feels good even if it is not the total solution to the problem.

4. I have taken action in whatever imperfect, human way I can. Hopefully, my action sparks others to do the same. And it makes me feel better. In-action leaves me feeling hopeless. We don't need that. We need hope.

This was an empty Smirnoff 2 once bottle.

A post titled, "PLASTIC, PLASTIC EVERYWHERE." FROM THE LIVING OCEANS SOCIETY

I'm speechless. Please view.

I'm not "lovin' it" when I find trash from fast food restaurants poised to enter the ocean with one strong breeze.

I was reading my ORION magazine yesterday. This passage caught my eye. It is an excerpt from Bill McKibben's article, "Small Change."

"...the White House has studiously avoided any extended discussion of climate change for the last two years. The occasional speech at some solar panel factory, sure, but even that was usually about "green jobs or the "clean energy future" or some other middle-speak. All of which accomplished nothing, since the Senate decided not to even take a vote on anything climate related.

So: hard facts.

Nineteen nations have set new all-time temperature records this summer.

Federal scientists have just announced that we've come through the warmest six months, twelve months, and decade on record.

A powerful new study in Nature shows that global warming has cut phytoplankton populations by half in the last sixty years.

It's not left, it's not right. It's HOT."

Community Count Day 69 - Manhattan Academy

Community Count Day 69 - Manhattan Beach Pier, CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

by 47 people

35.2 pounds collected

570.6 total

The Daily Ocean combined total - 1,239.4 pounds

It was a picture perfect fall day as we set out to collect trash from the Manhattan Beach with the Manhattan Beach Academy. Their small school is blocks away from the scene you see above.

About two weeks ago a parent brought in the LA Times article about this blog for her daughter's teacher, Miss Ricardo, to read. Rachelle Ricardo went online, found my contact information (thedailyocean@yahoo.com) and emailed me, inviting me to come to her school. I love getting emails from people who want to talk to me about The Daily Ocean.
I spent 30 min. talking to the school in their gym and showing them pictures that I have taken of the beach in Santa Monica. Some of the photos were of sea gulls and sunsets, but most were of the trash that I find there. The pictures sparked many questions from them like:

1. What can we do as teachers in the school to reduce our disposable plastic consumption?

I said to set the intention, and maybe buy more colored pencils instead of plastic markers.

2. Why doesn't the government make "them" stop making plastic?

I said (after trying to wrap my head around a succinct answer to tell Zena who is maybe 8 or 9) that actually it is much easier to change the amount of plastic produced if we individually stop buying products that are made from it. If we don't buy plastic products, "they" will stop making them.

Oversimplified? Sure - but it was a tall order to answer.

Here is Gisela (pardon any misspellings) and her mother Debra inspecting their findings.

Debra and I spoke at the school before we left and I mentioned many facts that I learned from the documentary BAG IT. I know that I link to it a lot, but I promised her a link, so here it is.

"A powerful and deceptively simple movie that is sure to change the way you look at every day objects. I didn't expect a movie about plastic bags to change my life in such a deep and profound way. Gripping, funny, intelligent and sure to change your life."

- Louie Psihoyos, Director of The Cove

There maybe other people who came to the discussion before the beach cleanup that would be interested in learning more from watching BAG IT.

May I humbly suggest a screening for the families at Manhattan Academy? A family night of environmental education?

As you can see - we found the same kinds of trash down the coast from Santa Monica that I do around life guard tower 26 at the end of Ocean Park Blvd..

The average collection for each person that participated today was .75, or three quarters of a pound, but I emphasised two things before we began.

1. Let's celebrate if we find a pretty clean beach when we go out. Don't be disappointed if you don't find a lot of trash, that is a good thing.

2. The small bits of styrofoam and plastic count just as much as the bigger pieces.

A look inside a collection bucket that could be from anywhere on CA coastline.

Did you know that paper coffee cups are lined with plastic? Used to be wax, now it is plastic. Coffee is extremely acidic.

May I suggest buying a stainless steal coffee mug? And then forgive yourself if you forget on occasion, but try as often as you can remember to reprogram your coffee habits.

Better for you - better for the environment.

All in all - I think that the students had fun, and were surprised when we added up the grand total of 35.2 pounds.

I was honored to come down there to speak to them. I'll come again. And in the meantime here is another link for Manhattan Academy.

The Story of Bottled Water, by Annie Leonard. It is a ten minute short by the same woman who did The Story of Stuff.

The Story of Bottled Water with Annie Leonard from kompozit on Vimeo.

I hope this spark of beach, and ocean conservation continues to spread through your school. It made my entire day to see the beginnings of it during our discussion and then again on the beach. Good work! And thank you!

Day 167 - Oct. 27, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

1.5 pounds

668.8 pounds
Tonight is the last night to vote for Danielle in the Britta Filter for Good Film Project. Her entry is called, "Our Daily Ocean: A Story of Butts." She's very gracious to consistently site her inspiration as this blog for her 20 min. beach cleanup in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. that she does with a twist, but all the action is because of her.

She counts the cigarette butts she collects during those 20 minutes and keeps a tally of those. So far in 15 days she has collected, (with the help of her three small children and husband Aaron) 7,360 CIGARETTE BUTTS. That's insane.

Hopefully a short film that will air during the Sundance Film Festival if she wins will go a long way to banning smoking on her home beaches in North Carolina. So vote for her tonight!
It was a gorgeous 84 degree October day here in Santa Monica with many surfers enjoying the waves until the sun went down and beyond.
CRUSH PROP 23 needs you! Sponsored by Credo, this campaign wants to get out the vote to squash Prop 23 on Tues.. You can type in your zip code and search for events in your area to:

STOP TEXAS OIL: HELL NO ON 23

Did you know that you can't recycle number 5 plastics?

Did you also know that most, if not all yogurt containers are made from number 5 plastic?

(I love yogurt!)

Did you also know that the chasing arrows symbol that we have all come to associate, or be synonymous with recycling, is not regulated?

At all?

I could put a chasing arrows symbol on my butt if I wanted. Well, you get the point. GENIUS marketing... BAG IT, the documentry is where I learned all the fun facts that I listed above.
I've started doing yoga again after a long hiatus. I've joined in on the odd class here and there over the last two years, (probably all of 5) and so the 5 minute headstand we did in class (I was against the wall for support...) has sent too much oxygenated blood to my head I think because all that is running through my head right now to end the post with is, "Ahhh... pretty. sunsets good. love California....pretty....ahhh.) Mix and match as you choose. I think I'll leave it there.

Day 166 - Oct. 26, 2010

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

1.5 pounds

667.3 pounds total
The tide line was littered with tiny bits of fragmented plastic and styrofoam. I got 200 feet from the first life guard tower in 20 min. The distance that I usually cover is about 2 football fields pushed together.

This is a perfect example of when the low tally of pounds would make you think - hooray! - but in actually the collection was the fragmented bits of plastic that are insidious, and dangerous.

The fish don't know thes fragments are not food. And you don't have to be a marine biologist to deduce that eating plastic does not do, "a body good." (obscure milk commercial reference in quotes - ah the power of advertising that I remember that from 15+years ago...)

But don't take my word for it. Look at 5 Gyres links to read about bio-accumulation of toxins in marine life from ingested plastic.
I didn't take very good photographs tonight. I was late-ish to the beach so the light was fading, and I felt a little rushed. The sun sets promptly at 6 o'clock these days. Not only was it not a good night for photographs, it was a yucky night for the cleanup.

Besides from the fragments of plastic that is engrossing and tedious to clean up, I found a maxi pad. A really newly used maxi pad that was discarded in between the cement gaps in the wall from the beach to the parking lot.

Not only did it make me scratch my head, it almost made me gag. So I left it. I know it doesn't belong in the ocean. And I hope it doesn't get there, but I just couldn't bring myself to be the one to dispose of that piece of human refuse.