August 6, 2012--balloons and bandaids in zone 4

As we walked onto the beach this morning, we were surprised to see all of the overflowing trash-cans.  Usually there are a few cans overflowing at the most popular access points, but today almost all the cans were overflowing with just a few that were not.

However, we only picked up 5 bags of trash.  I say "only 5 bags" because we usually get more on Monday mornings in zone 4, but really, isn't 5 bags just too many in one small zone?  I think so.  I can't wait for the Monday morning when I write that I only found 1 bag of trash in zone 4.  I'm still hopeful because I do believe that people are becoming more aware of their impact on the Earth and are making small changes everyday that will make a difference.

Sometimes we pick up a lot of small items that do not fill up our bags quickly.  That was the case today as we found lots of bandaids, bottle caps, and way too many balloons!

Balloons are harmful to the environment and we know that sea turtles will often mistake them for food.  Please check out the information on seaturtlehospital.org to see photos of balloons that have actually been excreted by sea turtles.

Balloons passed by Sea Turtle Hospital patient, Shackleford III (photo is courtesy of seaturtlehospital.org)

You can also see this picture of plastic pieces that were passed by a sea turtle at the hospital.  The fate of this sea turtle was a very sad one.  Please please spread the word about refusing and reducing plastic consumption.  It never biodegrades and it ends up in the stomachs of vulnerable animals.

Plastic pieces passed by Sea Turtle Hospital patient, Ocracoke II (photo is courtesy of seaturtlehospital.org).  Coin used for scale.

Some of the contents in our 5 bags included:

37 cigarette butts
14 toys or toy pieces
43 plastic bottle caps
1 metal bottle cap
3 aluminum cans
6 plastic cups
2 clothing articles (one hat and one rotten sock)
2 flip flops (they did match, but had obviously been left)
3 plastic cup lids
29 straws
19 balloons or balloon pieces
1 tennis ball (I gave it to my rescue dog, Gigi while she watched me sort the trash.  She was very happy about it.  If you are wondering why she is on the pink blanket--also found on the beach several weeks ago---it is because the ground was wet from the rain and she would not lay on the wet grass!  She is so prissy!  I call her "Prissy Paws"  Geez!!!)

1 ziplock bag
2 plastic bags

4 plastic bottles
1 plastic knife
1 piece of plastic sushi grass (so unnecessary)
lots of other small plastic pieces  :-(

and as always a beautiful WB sunrise!