Our time spent at Gamble Rodgers was really enjoyable in that we were able to simply walk across a short boardwalk and then stroll along the beach and listen to the surf crashing in… How horrible can this be?
Well unfortunately it isn’t all that grand along the beach because when you look a little closer amongst all the sargassum seaweed you will notice other things besides beautiful tiny coquina shells and fragments of angel wing shells. What you will discover is the awful amount of beach trash that washes ashore and besides being unsightly it can be very hazardous to the critters that live in the ocean and nearby.
RANT ON…
So our dilemma is what can we do about all this trash? Well we could put a stop to littering if we simply shot on sight anyone littering. This would surely stop those people from trashing our environment. However, this is probably too harsh a punishment for the crime despite knowing that the litter they toss can result in the loss of the life of a sea turtle or other critter that happens to consume a deflated balloon or chunk of plastic.
So what did Sharon and I decide to do about it? Since we like to take walks along the beach several times a day, we decided that when we do our morning walk along the beach we will take some of those plastic bags we all get at the 
grocery stores and just pick up all the plastics and rubber parts we find along the way. We focus on the plastics since they are virtually indestructible and will perhaps continue in our environment into the next ice age…
In case you are wondering the most common plastic trash we find are screw-on bottle tops, pieces of plastic shards and straws. We also find a lot of those inflatable helium filled balloons that have deflated and we just know these balloons are waiting for an unsuspecting sea creature to eat it and starve to death after it gets lodged in the throat…
As we walk and pass by a beachside trash can we simply empty the bags and 
continue on (or if our campground recycles, we recycle the plastic). We only do this once a day as we don’t want to be picking up trash all our lives because it is quite depressing. However, by at least doing so we feel as if we are doing our small part.
Our challenge to you is to do the same and as a result our “little parts” will add up to a much larger part and not only will our oceans and beaches be a bit cleaner but we may also hopefully end up saving an endangered sea turtle from an early demise…
Let’s keep our beaches beautiful!
RANT OFF…
During the two weeks we were in Flagler Beach, we went for a sunrise walk most every morning. I can't tell you how many balloons with the ribbons attached that we picked up. I'm with you, we concentrated on the things that were the most dangerous to sea life. Another pet peeve is cigarette butts! We noticed the trash cans would get emptied first thing every morning, but there was a can right by the pier that had tons of stuff on the ground beside it. No one ever picked that up.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many people understand the dangers of the balloons - we didn't until we took a ranger-led walk along the ocean and noticed so many balloons and ribbons. Thanks for bringing it to the attention in your blog.
ReplyDeleteMarsha & I do the same thing often while hiking....pick-up a bag of trash. Amazing what people just drop without a thought!
ReplyDeleteGood Goin' you guys!
Paul
Excellent I idea. As Paul said above, we try to help during our hikes or even in the campgrounds we stay at. Thanks for doing this for our environment.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I wonder how much of that trash comes from ships at sea and such as well. I'll take your lead and make an effort to pick it up rather than raving about the trash.
ReplyDeleteWe do the same ... ranting the whole time about people who are less than careful about how they dispose (or not) of their trash.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, we all need to do the same anywhere we are camped. We are on BLM land I-10 CA and it is surprisingly very clean, the stuff we found didn't even fill up a plastic trash bag. GOOD JOB to BLM boondockers.
ReplyDeleteLove your RANT. I feel exactly the same way and just can't understand why people have to be so trashy. I too always take a bag with me wherever I go on a hike or a walk as there always seems to be someone else's junk to pick up. Good for you and thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteSince I don't have a doggie to pick up after, perhaps I will start carrying a litter bag instead. We saw trash at the Pinnacles too. I picked up a couple of plastic cups and a candy wrapper. Do people think this stuff just evaporates? We have always had a litter bag in the cars.
ReplyDeleteGood thing to pickup what you see, somebody has to do it and we don't like turning a blind eye either!
ReplyDeleteWhen my wife and I lived in Puerto Rico, we couldn't believe the amount of litter on the beaches. Drove us nuts!
ReplyDeleteWe simply started carrying along a couple bags and would fill them by the time we had finished our walk. No problem filling up a couple more a week later either.
Good job! We started doing the same thing while hiking. We were so put out by the trash on on one of the trails in Arkansas that we put trash bags and hand sanitizer in our packs. Now we pick up as much as we can while we hike.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you think! We have always done the same thing. It's galling to me how rude and insensitive people can be. Maybe, instead of just shooting them, we should gather them up and put them all on the same island with all their trash and no way to escape :)
ReplyDeleteSounds Familiar - As camp hosts at Galveston Island State Park one of our main "duties" is to roam the beach at least twice a day picking up trash that washes in from the Gulf.
ReplyDeleteI hope you inspired some people with your 'rant'. I have carried a trash bag along on my walk for years and it never ceases to shock me how much there is to pick up. Along a lovely beach in California, where we camp every Christmas, my sisters and I fill several huge trash bags in just a couple of hours. Thanks for your thoughts and for doing your part to make this country a more beautiful place.
ReplyDelete