Beach Clean up!
I haven't posted in a long time and I decided that I'm going to kick off more frequent posts with my most favorite post of all. A super fun beach clean up that my friend Katherine and I organized.
We had some seriously amazing sponsors including Brush with Bamboo, The Simply Co, Klean Kanteen, Eco Bags and Meow Meow Tweet. All these eco friendly companies helped make a really great gift to the person who picked up the most trash in weight.
Why do we want to pick up trash on the beach when its not ours?
Whether we bought it ourselves and threw out the wrappers, plastic straws, cups, cigarette butts, etc.. onto the beach isn't the problem. It's what happens to it when it is there. It no longer turns into a blame game and starts to become a serious ecological issue. Not only does it make our beaches look gross and unkept, but more importantly interrupts the food chain that is an intricate part of all our species existence.
Plastic trash is found in 90% of seabirds and as global production increases by almost 60X since the 1960s, it will only get worst. Fish and other sea mammals mistake our trash for food. A food chain means there is an entire cycle involved so what happens when fish eat our plastic and we catch these fish? Those micro plastics easily absorb environmental toxins and now end up on our plate. It is a cycle that must be stopped! The easiest way for this to be stopped is for YOU, the consumer, to avoid unsustainable packaging and products. There are so many awesome alternatives.
Check out some of my favorite photos of these amazing people that I love keeping our beaches clean and safe for every living thing in it! We wanted to make the entire clean up zero waste so we bought a ton of garden gloves for our volunteers (we can't wait to use them for future beach clean ups) and we used all reusable totes instead of plastic trash and recycling bags.
Microplastics suck!
These amazing kids are the future of our planet and we were so happy to see them cleaning up and having a great time.
Billions of straws are used everyday and easily end up here! It is easy to opt out of straws, just say NO thank you before you order your drink!
After the clean up, we lined up all the trash we collected and shared with the group what our findings were, which made us more aware of what goes out onto the shores and sand.
Since there was a competition, we decided that the real winners weren't the ones getting the most trash in weight, but that what is more important is that our kids are raised to understand the effects of ocean plastic. My awesome friend Jonathan and his kids came out to pick up and we were so impressed at the passion this family has to keep our oceans clean and safe. It makes me so hopeful of the future. We decided to give the gift giveaway to them. But don't worry, Brush With Bamboo donated a ton of toothbrushes to all the volunteers!! YAY!!! Clean teeth and sustainability for everyone!