Museum of Litter

Keep yOUR beach clean

 

If fish were transparent

JR Surfriders -- You kids will save the world

Recently I got together with thirty Jr. Surfriders, ages 7 to 11, in an after school class taught by Ed Kirik at Plantation Park Elementary (Plantation, FL) to make 

greeting cards from litter. Ed heard we make art from litter and thought it would be a cool project for his class. We dumped the litter in a big pile on the floor and the kids really got into it,

crawling around on their hands and knees selecting *art supplies*. The school provided glue and scissors. In addition to litter, I brought recycled card stock, paint, ink pads, stamps, decorative scissors and decorative hole punches.

It was lots of fun and they were amazingly creative. I loved seeing which pieces of littered trash they picked and how they used them. 

When I asked who thought litter was a problem, every hand went up. When I asked why, they knew all the answers. They know all about the Pacific Garbage Patch and Atlantic Garbage Patch and what you can do to help. They told me how litter can kill and maim wildlife. These kids know their stuff! They know more about the importance of litter prevention than most adults. Jr. Surfriders: You kids are awesome!

Thanks Ed and Surfrider for educating engaged, passionate kids. You're doing a great job. These kids are very inspiring!

 

Thanks Jr. Surfriders. You kids are definitely Earth Heroes speaking up for mother earth. Thanks for caring and leaving the planet cleaner & greener than it was left for you. 

A cleaner shade of green

Been to a litter clean up lately? You're out there to do something good for the environment, you're greeted with a smile, handed a garbage bag, a pair of gloves .......... HOLD ON A SEC.

Think about it. Lots of volunteers each wearing single use gloves, carrying a single use plastic bag. Often those huge bags are each filled with just a handful of litter.

SeaAngels is doing something about that. I recently met SeaAngels when I visited their Ocean Ridge, FL monthly cleanup.

SeaAngels Monthly Cleanup at Ocean Inlet Park, Ocean Ridge, FL

I was impressed with their commitment to cleaning up in the most sustainable way possible. Their motto is: CLEANER BEACHES IN A GREENER WAY. And they do just that!

Michael Halasz, SeaAngels, handing grabber to young volunteer

THEY PROVIDE:

*Reusable plastic buckets 

*Grabbers

*Reusable gloves

THEY RECYCLE: 

After the cleanup they sort the litter and recycle everything that can be recycled, even batteries and mono-filament fishing line. And this is no easy feat. The Solid Waste Authority cannot provide recycle containers because they don't have the budget to empty them. So SeaAngels carts it themselves after every cleanup to Palm Beach County recycle bins. 

THEY EDUCATE & ENTERTAIN:

*Have info board to educate and give out personal on-the-go ashtrays.

*Provide free snacks.

*Provide water in a green way:  a huge keg with paper cups.

Kathy Silverio, SeaAngels; Sharon Huff, Museum of Litter; Robyn Halasz, SeaAngels; Nina, Eco Adventures standing by SeaAngels info table

Every environmental group could learn from the eco-conscious considerations SeaAngels puts into their cleanups. I have. I bought a pair of reusable plastic gloves for my planned pickups. I still carry and use disposables for unplanned pickups in my daily travels or for dealing with nasty items like used condoms, but I will use less. Thanks SeaAngels for guilting me greener.

Green congrats, SeaAngels. It's a LOT of extra work,  but SeaAngels talk the talk AND walk the walk!

What do YOU think about SeaAngels methods? Do you have any eco habits that need changing? What works for you? Please share. We can all learn from each other as we work together for a cleaner, greener, litter-free planet.

 

Michelle, MLK Day 2012: this beach cleanup was for you (Malia, Sasha & kids everywhere)

Yesterday was a brutal beach day. I'm a native Floridian and a weather-wimp. I don't know how my northern litter-picking friends do this year-round.

It was really windy. I was cold. My ears hurt. My sarong became a scarf and my hoodie was flapping around madly. Each time I'd move the wind would whack me with my zipper.

Any other day, I would have turned around and headed home. But I'd given my word to Michelle Obama. She tweeted (personally with her mo signature) "Here's something dear to my heart: the MLK Day of Service. Will you join me to serve your community on Monday? http://OFA.BO/NTYQkR -mo." I tweeted to her that I would pick up litter. Michelle would have never known, but I keep my word, so I kept walking. And I'm glad I did. On my way to the shore I spotted a wounded bird.

In this video a surfer describe finding the bird an hour earlier. Actually there were two birds tangled in fishing line wrapped around their wings and one with a hook in its beak. Ruth cradles and give comfort to the bird.

 

Within minutes several caring people gathered to help. Someone brought a towel. Someone brought a box.

Ruth's son took the bird -- a Royal Tern -- to South Florida Wildlife Center. A radiograph showed it had swallowed a sinker. If the bird is healthy enough they'll operate and if the bird recovers 100% it will be released.

Bird in good hands, I continued my litter pickup, gathering 2.75 pounds of litter from this empty and relatively clean beach:

Michelle, if it wasn't for you, this litter would not have been collected today. Here's hoping Malia, Sasha and kids everywhere will inherit a litter-free planet.

Fortunately, none of this litter will end up becoming ocean plastic. Here are photos of two pieces of marine debris with barnacles still attached. Luckily they have been rescued from the Atlantic Garbage Patch.

All litter was categorized and at documented at http://www.marinedebris.engr.uga.edu/

If you're interested in documenting litter go to this website to find out about getting an app for your smartphone. It's not only for marine debris. It's for litter everywhere as it all ends up in the ocean eventually.

When I left the beach it was already dark with black storm clouds roiling across the sky. I was eager to get home -- tucked in for the evening. I looked for the homeless woman I'd noticed when I first arrived at the beach. She was no where in sight. I was heartened to see the outpouring of care and compassion by all those I met on the beach yet saddened to know none of us had been able to help this human being.

That's one reason I pick up litter. It needs doing. And it's something I CAN do -- with my own two hands. Any time. Any where.

 

Fondly Remembering my First

No, not my first love. Not my first car. My first real litter pickup.

It was dawn. At the ocean. I'd just moved to the beach community of Lauderdale by the Sea, FL. Sitting cross-legged in the sand, enjoying sunrise with a hot thermos of coffee, I noticed a large object dancing in the surf. As I walked toward the shore to inspect I saw it was a plastic bucket. It kept bobbing back and forth, getting within 10 feet of land, then being dragged back out with the current. I realized I had to grab it quick or it would be swept out to sea. I waded deep into the water, and after numerous tries, was finally able to save the bucket.

I stood there a moment, relieved to have rescued this turquoise, paint-ball splattered, ugly plastic bucket. Looking around I noticed other pieces of small litter sitting on the wet sand glistening with the early rays of morning sun.

I've always cared about littering. Often I'd picked up litter I'd seen someone pitch, handing it back to them saying, "You must have dropped this." I'd called out my Uncle Percy when he threw a soda can out the window on a back road in KY. His response: "Oh, they don't care about that out here in the country."

But I'd never actually done a real litter cleanup.

Sunrise. April 2007. Bucket in hand, I walked along the beach gathering litter for the first time.

INVITATION to all litter pickers. Do you remember your first time picking up litter? I think it would make interesting reading. I bet others would love to hear what personally made you become passionate and proactive for litter prevention. If you'd like to share your experience I'd be happy to add it to this post. Contact me by email at [email protected] or Facebook www.facebook.com/MuseumofLitter or Twitter @MuseumofLitter.

Bernie Paquette of Vermont Litter With a Story to Tell shares the story of the first time he picked up litter.

Willy Jones, 11,  aka 'Willy Jones Whale' or 'Willy Jones Litter', is my new litter hero. PA is starting a filament recycling program because of him. His mother relocated to Maine so he could be close to and act on his passion for whales. He began picking up litter as a way to protect whales after he had a most amazing encounter with one. I sobbed as I read about his experience. Read about this AWEsome, beyond his years, amazing, human BEing here:

http://m.thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles-people/waverly-youth-passionate-about-whales-1.1088782

http://www.abingtonsuburban.com/news/prince-of-whales-1.1177841

http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1592794613/Willys-whale-of-a-tale?mobRedir=false

 

I ONLY COLLECTED 8 OUNCES OF LITTER TODAY

Today was the Lauderdale by the Sea, FL monthly beach cleanup. There were lots of helping hands bagging beach litter today. I concentrated on cigarette butts around the pavillion and behind Aruba.

Can you believe this cigarette butt only 2 inches from this container made especially for cigarette butt disposal? There are others just as close on the other side.

 

 

 

I only collected 8 ounces of litter today but that included:

419 Cigarette Butts..... and

 

1 Plastic Bag

5 Bottle Caps - metal

4 Bottle Caps - plastic

2 Building Materials - ceramic tile

6 Fireworks

12 Food wrappers - paper

18 Pieces paper or Cardboard

1 Personal Care product - used bandaid

11 pieces Plastic or Styrofoam

6 Straws

3 Pieces of foil

3 pieces of cellophane

Only eight ounces. Doesn't seem like much, but at least it's eight ounces that won't kill fish, birds or turtles who mistake it for food and die because they can't digest it. Only eight ounces. But it's eight ounces that won't join the swirling debris of the Atlantic Garbage Patch.

Only eight ounces. Every litter bit hurts. Every little bit helps.

 

 

Kristen, pretty in pink, cleans the beach!

It was a beautiful, breezy, sunny, Sunday afternoon. I had all my litter picking paraphernalia with me and was going to pick up debris after I'd relaxed a bit. As I was sitting there enjoying the day I saw a bunch of kids walking the shoreline. I noticed one girl in particular who kept stopping to pick up things. If she missed one, her friend would point it out so she could gather whatever she was collecting.

I am always curious what people collect. This is a tourist town and many people collect shells. Lots of people search specifically for sea glass. Others look for sea beans. And of course, my favorite, some pick up litter. As this girl came closer it looked like she was gathering trash.

"Are you picking up litter?" I called walking toward her. "Yes," she said, "I hate litter!"

Good for you, Kristen Roughen! And, thanks. Thanks to you and your friends for keeping the beach clean. Thanks for keeping ocean plastic out of the Atlantic Garbage Patch. Thanks for being such great kids -- kids who care, who are proactive, making a difference and being a great example.

The planet ... she has faith.

A day in the life of ocean plastic and the shore

Here's a record of the litter picked up 8am, October 26, 2011, at the shoreline in Lauderdale by the Sea, FL 33308 from behind the Windjammer Resort, north to the Pier (less than 1/4 mile). 

186 pieces of styrofoam or Plastic fragments:

Above: Plasticware, Sole, Used Condom, Balloon & Ribbons, Aluminum Foil, Plastic Bottle, Aerosol Can

Below: 45 Cigarette butts

 

TALLY OF ITEMS COLLECTED: Documentation of marine debris collected was provided to Marine Debris Tracker who in conjunction with Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Initiative and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) created an app for smart phones to track marine debris worldwide. If you pick up litter and want to help document debris, download the app or check out their website at Marine Debris Tracker.

1   Aerosol Can

 1   Aluminum Can

1   Plastic Bag

3   Beverage bottles (plastic)

10 Bottle Caps - Plastic

2  Bottles - Plastic

1   Buoy or float

45  Cigarette Butts

1   Cup/top - Plastic

2   Flipflops

1   Food Wrapper (plastic)

1   Paper (piece of paper)

186 Plastic or Styrofoam fragments

3   Ropes, (pieces of -- plastic)

8   Silverware (plastic) - one unused, still wrapped in plastic

9   Other

    1 - Condom - used

    1 Three pound Soft Bag (no clue -- for diving?)

    4 pieces of aluminum foil

    1 Pen

    1 Plastic or silk flower, less than 1"

    1 Tar Ball - about 5x7 inches

 10 Plastic Bottle Caps and one small plastic bottle:

 And below is a picture of a piece of Styrofoam rescued from the Atlantic Garbage Patch. You can see that it definitely came from the ocean because it still has barnacles attached.

 This isn't a vast amount of litter or even very large pieces. But that makes worse. In a previous post I wrote why I believe, Size Does Matter -- Small is Worst. 

And, the kicker is, this litter is ONLY from the shoreline, the high tide line, and it accumulated overnight. I had completely cleaned the shore last night at dusk. I had removed e-v-e-r-y little bit of plastic, styrofoam and every cigarette butt (no photos). This is what was washed ashore or left behind in just 14 hour!

If you'd like to share pictures of litter you've collected or your collection crew, please feel free to share them on the Museum of Litter Facebook Page.

Size Does Matter. Small is Worst.

Styrofoam and plastic never decompose, it just breaks apart and becomes smaller and smaller pieces. The small bits are the worst. They can be almost invisible. In many litter cleanups they are unseen. They become out of site, out of mind. And, we all know:

"What is essential is invisible to the eye."  Antoine de Saint Exupery in The Little Prince.

When picking up litter the smaller pieces are nearly invisible compared to fast food litter: wrappers, soda cans and plastic bottles. But these smallest bits are worse.

The lightweight styrofoam, plastic pieces, and cigarette butts (the filters are plastic), travel with wind and rain into storm drains. They pollute our water. They end up in lakes, streams, rivers and eventually the ocean. They become part of the swirling debris known as Pacific Garbage Patch  or Atlantic Garbage Patch . Birds, fish and turtles mistake these colorful bits for food, eating them and feeding them to their young. They are small enough to be ingested, but cannot be digested, so these beautiful, innocent creatures die. Additionally, if you eat fish, YOU may be ingesting these micro plastics.

It is essential we prevent this plastic poison from entering our water and food chain.

Every litter bit hurts. Every little bit helps.