We found Rick!

Monday, August 24th zone 4

John and I are almost done with the KIC season.  We have one Monday morning walk after today.  At the beginning of the season, my first post talked about a return to familiar patterns and seeing some of the same people on the beach.  We saw the man who lifts weights, we saw our friends who bike and run on the beach, but we have wondered about Rick.  Rick is someone that I wrote a post about last year.  We would see him every Monday morning picking up trash.  Well……finally…..today, we saw Rick!  He has been busy this summer and has missed the beach.  He said he was so glad he came out since we are almost finished with our season.  The funny thing is….I saw Rick again this week in the grocery store.  Twice in one week!!!!  I asked how his day had been and with his usual smile and southern ease, he said:  "Great.  You know why?  Because every morning I wake up and say this is going to be a great day!".  It was great to see you Rick.  And, thanks for the life lesson:  "This is going to be a great day!"

Rick and John in 2014

Monday was indeed a beautiful day on the beach.  The weather seemed to be just perfect and the sky greeted us with a gorgeous wash of pinks and oranges as we walked across the dunes.

As you can see from the photos, we live in paradise!  Please Keep It Clean (KIC).

We found the following items in our litter bags today:

49 cigarette butts (Rick picked up a lot of cigarette butts too, but those were in his bag and not included in this count)

Foxy Cat surveys the trash from the left.

67 food wrappers
1 foam take out container
14 plastic bottle caps
3 metal bottle caps
6 plastic lids
25 straws/stirrers
4 pieces of plastic cutlery
3 plastic beverage bottles
1 plastic grocery bag
1 ziploc bag
1 paper cup
7 plastic cups
27 pieces of packaging
1 cigar wrapper
1 piece of painters tape
1 piece of duct tape
2 fireworks debris
1 panty liner (yuck)

Foxy Cat surveys the trash from the right.

4 articles of clothing
13 toys
1 towel
10 foam pieces
12 plastic pieces
17 paper pieces
5 plastic zipties
2 artificial flower petals (I find these every week near oceanic pier)
1 pair of cheap sunglasses
3 bandaids
1 q tip
1 nicotine gum blister pack
1 wet one
8 various pieces of rope or string
1 hair clip
8 hair ties
4 rubber bands

Our beach is beautiful, please don't leave your trash hanging around!

Peace and Clean Oceans,

Ginger

Teeth and the Beach

Monday, August 17, 2015---Zone 4

People are always in search of sharks' teeth when they visit the beach.  I don't usually find these at Wrightsville.

I do;  however,  find evidence that people are concerned about their own teeth----I find at least one plastic dental flosser every week.  I hate these items because I find them to be so unnecessary and they are a single use disposable plastic that is  littering our environment.

But it is not the dental flossers that gave rise to the title of this post.  This week, when I was sorting the trash, I found that John had picked up a retainer.  Yuck!  There is just something so gross about touching a retainer that belongs to someone else.  I didn't want to handle it!  I'm sure the owner did not want to lose it either.  It looked a little "worse for the wear" as it was very yellowed with some black that did not wash away with the water hose.

Here is what was in our litter bags today:

40 cigarette butts
71 food wrappers
10 plastic bottle caps
1 metal bottle cap
5 various lids
26 straws/stirrers
3 pieces of plastic cutlery
5 plastic bottles 2 glass bottles
3 aluminum cans
4 ziploc bags
7 plastic cups
1 foam cup
32 packaging pieces
2 strapping bands
2 tobacco packaging

A few of the items we found.

1 cigar tip
3 fireworks
3 foam pieces
15 plastic pieces
21 paper pieces
6 articles of clothing
1 towel
11 toys

2 various strings
2 dental flossers
1 plastic dental retainer
1 cotton ball
4 bandaids
1 surf wax
1 bread tie
3 silica gel packs
2 dryer sheets
3 wet ones
2 artificial flower petals
1 ink pen
2 hair ties

Please keep our beaches clean.   Do a clean up wherever you are.  Everything goes downstream into the ocean.  If you clean up in the middle of the country, you are helping to protect our oceans.

Parking lot at Access 3.

Peace and Clean Oceans,
Ginger

4 Saturdays of Beach Sweeping in Zone 1 with KIC volunteer, Pat

July 25th

August 1st

August 8th

August 15th

No shark reports = More trash

Mondays-August 3rd and August 10th 2015 in zone 4.

I know the title of this post may be a little controversial or at least up for debate, but I believe it is true.  I have been walking the beach on Mondays since 2008.  I have been walking in zone 4 since 2010 (I think that is right).  From what I have noticed and observed, the beginning of this summer seemed very clean.  The other volunteers said the same thing.  But, for the past few weeks, the trash has increased considerably and I no longer feel, "The beach is clean this year".

So, what is the difference?  In the beginning of the summer, we had several shark attacks in NC over a period of days and then weeks.  I heard two of the local surf schools say that business was down.  I heard a few of the locals say that they were a little timid to get in the water as well ( I am one of those locals).  Fewer people visiting the beach always = less trash.  After all, where does the trash come from---HUMANS.

I don't know why the sharks seemed to be more populous and attacking in the beginning of the summer.  Lots of people and experts have shared their opinions.  It is my personal, non-scientific opinion that they were migrating through following bait fish that were perhaps here because of warmer waters.  Who knows?  But the attacks have seemed to stop (knock on wood), people are less scared to go in the water, more people are visiting, and we (HUMANS) are leaving our trash behind.

Please take your trash with you.  Do a quick 15 - 20 minute beach clean up while you are here visiting. Give back to the ocean.  The Ocean is, after all, the reason we are able to live on this planet.  It is our water source.  Keep It Clean.

Even with all the trash, WB is Gorgeous!  Just take a look at this sunrise!

Here are the crazy numbers for the past two Mondays:
72 cigarette butts, although WB is a non-smoking beach.  There were many more, but no time to clean.
163 food wrappers-this includes anything that food is packaged in.

cellophane and saran wrap and other food packaging items.  This could really clog up a marine animal.

60 plastic bottle caps!

2 metal bottle caps

22 various plastic lids

46 straws/stirrers--such an easy thing to refuse.  Just say, "No straw please" when you dine out.

2 pieces of plastic cutlery

8 plastic bottles

1 glass bottle

2 aluminum cans

2 plastic grocery bags

1 paper cup

10 plastic cups

1 foam plate

1 fishing foam bob

28 plastic and foam packaging including 2 pieces of bubble wrap

8 other plastic bottles--travel size shampoo and conditioner bottles left in the parking lot

10 tobacco packaging--again, WB is non-smoking

3 balloons

1 plastic cigar tip

1 piece of painters tape

28 fireworks debris

12 foam pieces

31 plastic pieces

31 paper pieces

15 articles of clothing including flip flops, hats, shirts, and bikini top inserts
20 toys
7 towels

2 artificial flower petals-we find these every week near Oceanic

2 dryer sheets

1 medicine blister pack

4 chap sticks

1 plastic nose guard from sunglasses

1 AA battery

2 hair ties

20 bandaids and medical wrapping tape????

1 name tag sticker belonging to "Stephanie" who may be a veterinarian

5 plastic zip ties

1 broken plastic umbrella stake

1 plastic dental flosser

1 pair of goggles

10 various ropes and straps

8 tent stakes

1 tent

1 canvas tent cover

1 board leash

2 surf wax

1 silica gel pack

1 wet one

1 metal shower curtain hanger??

THAT'S ALL!

Peace and Clean Oceans

Ginger, Gigi Dog and Foxy Cat

Zone 0 Litter Pictorial

Would you like ketchup with that? How about batteries?

Monday, July 27th

I just have to start with explaining the title of this blog entry.  We found, not one, but TWO empty bottles of ketchup on the beach today!  Seriously, I can't make this stuff up!  I don't know what else to say about that.  :-)

Ketchup bottle #1

Several yards down the beach, ketchup bottle #2

It was a weird morning on the beach.  We also found 4 size D batteries.

Here is a list of all the items we found during our morning patrol and litter clean up:

11 cigarette butts
51 food wrappers or pieces of wrappers
20 plastic bottle caps
1 metal bottle cap
4 plastic lids
16 straws/stirrers
2 plastic pieces of cutlery
1 wooden fork???

10 plastic beverage bottles
2 plastic grocery bags
2 other plastic bags
1 paper cup
3 plastic cups
5 foam cups
16 pieces of plastic or foam packaging
2 ketchup bottles
2 tobacco packaging
1 balloon
2 cigar tips
1 piece of blue painters tape
1 piece of silver duck tape
6 pieces of fireworks debris
1 condom partially buried in the sand
1 plastic glove partially buried in the sand
6 foam pieces
11 plastic pieces
20 paper pieces
1 hat
1 bikini cup insert
1 shorts

12 toys
2 cans of vienna sausage
1 hair tie
9 pieces of rope and string
4 wet ones
6 plastic zipties
4 size D batteries
2 pieces of surf wax
1 plastic dental flosser
3 bandaids
1 bread twist tie
1 hair comb-the kind lots of girls used in the 70's to pull their hair back
1 q-tip

We also saw these umbrellas that had been left up overnight, but no tags on them even though there were plenty of tire tracks on the beach indicating that the park ranger or some other vehicle had driven by several times.  It is against ordinance to leave items like this on the beach overnight.  The risks are they can get blown over and then become marine debris or a nesting sea turtle may encounter them causing her to have a "false crawl".

John moved 1 chair away from the tide line.

We discovered this tent, stakes, and tent packaging left on the beach.  We left it there hoping the owners would return or the trash truck would collect it.  It was far away from the tide line and we had no way to carry it the rest of the way off the beach.  It was near a trash can already.

But, not all is trashy on Wrightsville Beach.

Every Monday we see our friend, Holly K. running with a group of women.  This morning we caught up to her, her daughter and another friend.  Holly had helped with a cleanup on Saturday of one of the spoil islands.  Thank you Holly!

Of course, we always get to see the Sun rise, birds foraging, and the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer.

 Peace and Clean Oceans,
Ginger