Day 18 - May 18

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min. 

estimated pounds collected today - 15

estimated pounds collected to date - 136
How many people enjoy the beach in a summer? WikiAnswers.com says, "Over a Billion people go to the beach in the summer in the USA."

I know that wikipedia doesn't have a lot of credibility. The point is that A LOT of people come to the beach.  They come to play, relax, think, get in the water, be with friends and family, get some sun....I could keep going with this list. I'd like people, especially children, to be able to do that for a long time. 
Grey days make amazing colors. 
Water is not always blue. Actually, I think it's never the same color twice. 
Retrieving wet clothes, or dry really, is something I don't like to do.  This shirt looks like it got a good wash first. Dry is worse.
Clothes are trash when they end up in the ocean.
A website called, Can Manufacturers Institute, has some fun recycling facts about cans.

It's estimated that since 1972 some 18.7 million tons of aluminum have been recycled. These 1,099 billion aluminum cans placed end-to-end could stretch to the moon and back some 174 times.

Crows. I love crows. I especially love crows when I see them on the beach.
So I have included a few too many pictures in this post of one that I watched at the end of my collection time. 
I've recently finished a Young Adult novel, and in it, there is a crow named Azrael. Maybe I saw him today. The book takes place on the beach, and under the water. It's taken me 2 & 1/2 years to write. Just going back over it for the next few weeks to get it polished up. What's next? I'll see...

Day 17 - May 14 part two

To learn new information and retain it, I believe that people need to feel good about themselves, and what they are learning. At least I believe that this approach is an effective way to teach, but one that is not always possible. 

As I sit here and write, I am trying to come up with a way to promote the positive learning I am talking about. However, sometimes there are no easy ways to deliver information that is just a plain ol' bummer. So with that said, I bring you part two of Day 14. 

A few startling realizations happened at the end of picking up our trash collection for the day.

1. There are, on average, 10 - 12 trash cans between Life Guard Stations at Ocean Park Beach. 

2. They are mostly empty.  They are mostly empty, most of the time. See the picture below.
I would like to say that the trash cans are empty because there just isn't a lot of trash on the beach to put in them. That would be a lie. 
Garen is pretending to be a human scale. But here's the thing, just as we were finishing up, we saw a family's worth of trash spread out on the sand in front of us. We passed them on our collection walk maybe 10 min. earlier. On our way back to parking lot 5 at Ocean Park, we noticed they had eaten on the beach, and left everything. 

That's right, all of their plates, and cups, and wrappers, and plastic cutlery. All of it. There were already many Seagulls eating the trash. I had a couple of pieces of Sourdough Bread to feed some birds from the end of a loaf at our house, so I distracted the birds, while Garen cleaned up the mess. And it doubled the amount of trash he collected for the entire 20 min. in one blanket indented spot on the sand. 

There's one other thing. The family had seen us pass, and looked at us collect trash off the beach from a very close proximity. (I remember feeling self conscience to collect too close to them because I already saw wrappers lying near them, and I try not to invade people's space while I walk around.) At least, I assume they saw as I passed them closely, and a woman watched what I was doing. 

But maybe it didn't register with her. Maybe it didn't make sense at all to see me bent over, and picking cigarette butts from the sand. I like to think that when people act irresponsibly towards the environment, or their community, they do it because they don't know why they need to care yet. When it comes to environmental conservation and stewardship, there are many, many people left to reach. I'd like to think that some people are slower to catch on to what I like to believe is a Green Movement, a Green Revolution! Ha, that would be great, a Green Revolution. 

Anyway, I'd like to believe a powerful solution is that we need to keep environmental education going, and raising awareness in our own communities until it travels exponentially through our entire population. Cultural differences be damned!

Because the other alternative is much harder to address than ignorance. The alternative is that this family was too lazy to bring their trash 50 feet to a nearly empty trash can. And that they left everything right there on the beach, and right in front of their children. Ignorance and laziness are two options that I'd rather not choose from at all. But one has a solution, and one is corrosive. 

Day 17 - May 14 part one

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

estimated ponds collected today - 7

estimated pounds collected to date - 113
I may get tired of pretty sunset shots as I continue this project. Or, I may not. If you do, I apologize. It's just that every time I see the sun setting on the ocean, it strikes me as a particularly beautiful landscape to witness. Put simply, it makes me feel better about the world. 
This is my husband Garen. He is a Marine Biologist and he teaches full time at Santa Monica community college. www.smc.edu If you take Marine Biology there, you will go on an optional trip to Morro Bay where you'll see Elephant Seals, sea birds galore, and families of otters. I'm going in the fall. 
Dr. Garen Baghdasarian is his offical title because he did his Phd. on environmental factors affecting coral bleaching and recovery of corals from bleaching events. He's the coolest, I'm proud of him. This sounds corny perhaps, but being proud of your partner is a gift I don't take for granted. Alright, moving on. I just heard a loud collective AWWWWWWH from my friends. 
I thought it was a little ironic to find a cup with this "Hang Ten Ocean Theme" on the side of this plastic cup. Did you know that all of the plastic that has ever been made since the 1950's is here, and it is not going anywhere? It just breaks down to smaller and smaller pieces until they have found out recently that even the smallest organisms in the oceans are eating it. Plastic is now a major part of the food chain.

"According to the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, more than a million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die every year from eating or getting entangled in plastic."

This quote is taken from a blog that I think looks helpful. Click here to see the entire post that I quoted and check out the site
                                                                  Yummy. Ugh.
Garen and I unearthed this treasure. I always like when we go together. Double the fun. Well, actually  it is empowering to do this project, but not fun to find bud ice in the sand. Ice is not Nice
Stand up paddle surfing reminds me of Hawaii. I always visualize ancient Hawaiians riding the waves this way. I have no idea if they did or not, so I will read more from this site. You can too if you clicked on "this site" in case you missed the cue.
Another amazing way to end the day. Standing here and watching this.

Day 16 - May 12

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

est. lbs. collected today - 5

est. lbs. to date - 106
Like I've said in a previous post, the most common types of trash found on beaches, or in the ocean, are

1. cigarette butts

2. candy wrappers

3. fast food wrappers

So what if we asked major corporations to spend some of their earnings on education about ocean conservation? They could support existing organizations that already do this, help coastal cities with their beach clean-up sanitation services, and invest in alternative packaging technologies. Sound crazy? Maybe some already do. I'll research this and report back in a later post. 

I see major brand name food and beverage empires with their wrappers everywhere on the beach. Ultimately it is up to us to do the responsible thing and dispose of our trash. But, it is their packaging, on their products, that is polluting the water. I'd like to know what you think. Ideas? The ocean is being littered by this kind of trash daily. We need solutions other than trash collection.

Sunset in Santa Monica at Ocean Park looking at the municipal pier.

The only benefit to smog in Los Angeles is a beautiful sunset.

Day 15 - May 11

Let's start with the good stuff. When I am out here doing this, I get to see colors like these on the beach.  One of many benefits from doing this project.
Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

est. lbs. today - 8

est. lbs. to date - 101

Does it alarm you too that I can pick up 8 pounds of trash in 20 min.?
Barefoot and beach go together like lemonade on a summer day.  But wait, you'd want to watch your step here. I should have put something next to these nails for scale. You'll have to take my word for it. They were sticking out of the wood about 3 inches. 
I guess if I had to choose where to find this, on the beach or on the sand, I'd pick the sand. I wouldn't like to be the surfer coming off their board, and stepping on this on the way out.

But, it didn't go back in the water this day. Small steps make me feel better.
I had two Seagulls follow me today.  I like this shot of one of them. I see real personality here, but maybe you just see a bird.  In any case, I like the photo, hope you do too.
Another beautiful view at the end of my walk.

Day 14 - May 8, 2009

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

est. lbs. today - 2.5

est. lbs. to date - 93
This post is graphic. I feel like I should apologize for showing detailed photos of tampons and poop. But here's the thing. We need to know that when we go out to the beach to surf, like the picture above, or let our kids swim, that there's stuff washing in there that carries a lot of bacteria. Biological waste is a problem at my local beach. So far, and I've been at this less than a month, I've found: regularly...

1. condoms, condom wrappers

2. tampons

3. syringes

4. band-aids

This is how close these items are to the water. Unfortunately, it most likely came from the water and washed up this far. Still, it is very close to going back in, except, I picked it up, with a plastic bag. Ugh.

Sorry. Let's assume this is DOG WASTE. Although, I've got to tell you, I had my doubts. And yes, this is the worst thing I've had to pick up to date.

Dog waste, (and there are no dogs allowed on this beach), is a huge problem. I'll leave one factoid here:

1 gram of dog waste contains 23 million fecal coli form bacteria (www.stormwatercenter.net)

And if you want to read more, click here. See the photo below. This one was close to be washed in, but don't despair, it didn't. PHEW!

Day 13 - May 5, 2009

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica

trash collected for 20 min.

est. lbs. today - 6

est. lbs. to date - 90.5

This post is a little different. I guess I forgot to take my usual beach shot to set the scene. After I'd finished collecting trash, a small flock of seagulls came and hovered over my head. If they weren't so beautiful, I'd be worried about the obvious. However, seeing these birds up close was amazing. I feel like people often overlook them for many reasons; one, they are common; two, they eat trash; three, they are considered pests that want your food. Take a look at the next few pictures. I hope you'll see them differently, at least here. 


Cute, but still trash.
I was in Orange County this weekend with friends taking their new puppies to the dog beach near Huntington Beach. We found our way to Rubio's Mexican Grill, and I got some water with my meal. As I looked at the bottle next to my two taco plate, I tried to place where I'd seen this bottle before. And then I remembered. On the beach, where plastic bottles don't belong. 

The top three kinds of trash found in the ocean are:

1. cigarette butts top the list.

2. candy wrappers, yup jolly ranchers etc.

3. fast food wrappers

Have you heard of the HUGE FLOATING TRASH ISLAND IN THE PACIFIC? Well, it's twice the size of THE UNITED STATES at the moment, Oprah recently covered this on her show 

click here to see pictures and a video.

A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said."

Part of David De Rothschild's voyage on the Plastiki, that I mentioned earlier in a post, is going to document it and take water samples. Here's the article I found the quote in, click here. 

Day 12 - May 4, 2009

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

est. lbs. today - 5

est. lbs. to date - 81.5
Just a beautiful shell someone hadn't disturbed yet when I saw it. 
Are plastic bags a reason to smile? Not if you're a turtle. They eat them thinking that they are their primary food, jellyfish.

"Besides plastic bags, the turtles had swallowed fishing lines, balloon fragments, spoons, candy wrappers, and more." That's a quote from this article. If you look at the article, you'll also see an incredible slideshow of Sea Turtles (one of my all time favorite animals), and some of the pictures include people helping them. It's not all doom and gloom folks. Nope, not at all.

Day 11 - May 1, 2009

Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 min.

est. lbs. today - 5

est. lbs. to date - 81.5

This is a picture I found attached to this article. Biologists have called for a ban on balloons. You can see why they might feel that way. I find balloons on the beach every day.

Here's a picture of a pretty blue balloon I found today.