Nancy Fahey subs and finds a light bulb (now there's and idea!?)

Hey Ginger,
 
I subbed in Zone 2 on Sunday, 05/27, and Zone 3 today (Wed. 05/30).  Here is what I found on the beach:
 
Sunday, Zone 2:  One bag of random litter consisting mostly of plastic bottles and wrappers, plus 2 mesh beach toy bags.  My least favorite thing to find!
 
Wednesday, Zone 3:  Two bags of litter consisting of two balloons, one feminine personal product (Oh joy~maybe mesh bags are not my least favorite things to find, after all!), lots of plastic bottles, lots of straws, three socks (none of them matching), one little girl's shoe, two plastic spoons, a few toy sand shovels, and various plastic wrappers.  In addition to the two bags of litter, I took a large beach umbrella to the trash cans as well as a small sand pail.  And here was the most bizarre find of the day:  A long fluorescent light bulb; the kind that is usually found above a kitchen sink, not at the tide line!  Only in Zone 3!  :)
 
And what I did not find: The tracks of a nesting sea turtle! 

Zone 3, Friday week 4- almost the holiday weekend!

Despite this crow perched ominously on the "danger" sign that greeted me at Wrightsville Beach today, it was actually quite a pretty morning. My husband Jeff had the day off, so I also had a litter-picking-up buddy. Nice!

The total amount of trash that we picked up this morning was half of my reusable bag, which is equivalent to 2 plastic grocery bags. It consisted mostly of fast food drink cups, straws, snack wrappers such as granola bars and candy bars, broken sand toys, and plastic baggies. Recyclables that we picked up included 5 plastic water bottles, 6 plastic bottle caps, and 1 beer can. We also picked up 44 cigarette butts. We did come across a couple pairs of flip flops, but we elected to leave them because we thought they might belong to the surfers.

Overall, the litter was really bad for the first "unofficial" day of the holiday weekend. We were fortunate to also find a couple of good pieces of sea glass. There is already a rather large escarpment in zone 3, so be careful, everyone! :)

Peace,
Susan Miller

Week 3-- Susan Miller in zone 3

 Friday, May 18, zone 3

Well, to be honest, today was not quite what I was hoping for for my first litter clean up of the summer 2012 season. The sky was uniformly gray and it drizzled on and off throughout my whole walk. It was quite windy and chilly. All in all though, I am reminded that I am fortunate to spend time at the ocean at any time, regardless of the weather!

Because the weather has been somewhat dreary for the last couple of days, there wasn't too terribly much litter to pick up this morning. I collected about 1/4 of my reusable bag (equal to one plastic grocery bag) of assorted small bits of litter, consisting mostly of plastic snack wrappers such as Lance snack crackers, plastic utensils, plastic sand toys, beer bottle caps, cigarette butts, plastic straws, and plastic bottle caps. I also found 2 stray flip flops (not a pair) and one opened but unused condom.

There was a rather steep escarpment throughout most of my zone this morning, and just a few other walkers and joggers who were braving the gloomy weather. The coolest thing I happened to see was this little house that someone built right at the shoreline, just past beach access #32. It was made completely of natural materials, so I left it as it was. Very cute!

Week 19--John and Ginger in Zone 3 at Access 18

John and I adopted Access # 18.  So far, I have not included that report with our litter report, but this time I decided that it would be okay.

Given that it is Labor Day Weekend and given Nancy's last email of all the trash she has been collecting on the beach, I decided it would be a good time to clean up.

We picked up about 3 bags of trash in 25 minutes.  I spent about 15 minutes focusing on cigarette butts (since Nancy is focusing on Sea Turtle Tracks).  In that 15 minutes, I collected 406 butts!!!!

We also collected

1 plastic bag

1plastic bottle

several pieces of the construction plastic that Nancy talked about

6 toys

28 bottle caps

5 aluminum cans

2 ziplock bags

1 latex glove (shredded like a balloon)

2 plastic lids

1 Wendy's fast food bags and contents

24 straws

1 six pack ring (very sad)

1 "I (double heart) Jessus" hair bow

1 wallet that we turned into the police department

Yesterday, we went boating and to Mason's Inlet on the South End of Figure Eight Island.  We noticed that the construction plastic had washed up there as well.  We grabbed what we could in our hands.  We also collected two balloons, 1 ziplock bag, and we scooped a plastic bag out of the Inlet that contained 5 plastic bottles!

For the fun of it, I decided to photograph the total collection of toys that John and I have picked up this year.

40  unbroken shovels

25 broken shovel pieces

10 sand pails

32 broken sand pail handles

27 sand molds

11 plastic rakes

and my favorite are the toy men.

I also took pics of our collectables in their containers (minus all the bottle caps b/c I gave those to Bonnie already---all 400 & some of them!!)

lots and lots of straws

Here is our jar of balloons 

I think Speckles is going to miss our Monday Morning Trash Sortings!!!

Susan Meets Kali Wali!! Week 16

What a morning at WB! I know, I know... I say that every morning there is picturesque ( and every one is). But the storm yesterday blew in a cool breeze and a blue sky, so the weather this morning was just ideal.

There really wasn't that much litter today, I am assuming this is also due to the storm yesterday. Normally, I collect litter in a plastic grocery bag and throw it away as I walk along the beach. I put reusables and recyclables in a large reusable bag. But this morning, I discovered that we didn't have any plastic grocery bags in my house. I thought I might find one at the beach to use-- but then I didn't. Hooray! So I just used my reusable bag to collect both trash and recyclables today. I walked my entire zone and only filled the bag halfway (equal to 2 grocery bags) so it was a good day. There were several holes that were large but not terribly deep. There was also an impressive sand alligator.

Items I collected included:

6 beer cans
only 1 plastic soda bottle (YAY)

1 cigarette box
2 lighters
1 empty chewing tobacco container
1 beaded bracelet
1 tube of chapstick
1 pencil
3 band aids
2 balloons

2 plastic shovels
1 toy car
1 toy Flounder (got me singing-- I love The Little Mermaid)
9 straws
8 stray socks (what's with all the socks??)
1 tee shirt
1 small plastic garbage can lid
numerous cigarette butts

1 red plastic Solo cup
2 Capri Sun pouches
13 bottle caps

1 pair of girl's flip flops
1 stray women's flip flop
1 small pile of assorted wipes, straw wrappers, bits of plastic, fish hooks, etc.

So when I left Wrightsville Beach today, I stopped by Great Harvest Bread Company on my way home. I often stop there, as they are one of my favorite local stores, and how can you possibly resist fresh bread, muffins and scones in the morning? Plus, all of the guys who work there are always so nice and helpful. After I made my selection and paid at the register, the man who had assisted me looked at my WBSTP tee shirt and asked, "So are you part of the sea turtle project?" I replied, "Yes I am." Then he asked, "Do you know Ginger?" I responded, "I most certainly do!" It turns out that the gentlemen who had assisted me were Sonny and John, both of whom I have read about on this very blog! They seemed to think it was funny when I gushed about KaliWali, and how I think it is great that they are down there on the beach every Monday morning. They suggested that I come out some time, and said that they both really enjoy talking to John and Ginger, whom they think are very nice people. (But we already knew that, of course!!)

Peace,
Susan
-- 
Susan Z. Miller
Freelance Writer and Editor
email: szmiller980@gmail.com
web: http://www.szmiller.homestead.com

week 16--Gina and Cindy find quite a few clothes in zone 3

Hi Ginger,

Here is our TRASH REPORT FOR  ZONE 3 FOR WEDNESDAY, 8/17/11

We collected 2 Trash Bags (Grocery Size)

The following items were collected:

plastic bottles, plastic caps, Styrofoam cups, 2 tee shirts, 1 pair of flip flops, 1 pair of sneakers, pair of boxers, 1 sock, plastic beach toys, cans. 

Gina DeVaughn
Cindy Wilson

Excitement from Susan about our nest hatching!

Well, what an exciting week it has been!! I have just been so busy bragging to everyone about our successful hatching on Sunday, and excavation on Wednesday. ;) It has also been such a privilege to work with so many other nice WBSTP volunteers.

Because of all the excitement, I had my heart set on finding turtle tracks this week. Alas, I found none. However, I did find a substantial amount of litter in zone #3 today. For the past few weeks, I have found little to no glass bottles, which is a nice trend, because last year I remember finding quite a few. Today I did not find a single piece of glass. I collected one Target bag of trash, and 3/4 of my reusable bag (3 grocery bags) of reusables and recyclables.

The majority of the trash consisted of plastic such as cracker, chip, and snack wrappers; drink lids; straws; bottle caps; ziplock, grocery, and ice bags, and cups. I also found one large clear sheet of plastic that was perhaps from a case of bottled water or something. For some reason I also found a lot of random pieces of rope and string today, along with stray clothing items such as hair ties (lots of these), socks, and a pair of plaid boxer shorts. 

There was a seemingly unending number of cigarette butts.

Reusables and recyclables included aluminum beer and juice cans, plastic water bottles, one pair of neon green flip flops, a pair of blue snorkeling flippers, and several sand toys.

One thing that still bums me out is other people's disregard for the litter at the beach. I am trying to get past this, I really am, because I realize there are a lot of other like minded people in this world. But today I had an experience that really bummed me out. While I was walking my zone, I was approaching a family of four: a mom, dad, and two elementary school age kids. As I walked, I could see them looking at me with a strange look, as though they disapproved of what I was doing or were angry at me. (I don't get this look often, so I found it weird.) As I drew nearer, the family hustled from the water up towards one of the beach accesses. As they passed, I could see that the daughter was eating a piece of fruit. Then as I reached the spot where they had been standing, I found a plastic produce sticker in the sand that said "black plum." I was so sad that this young girl had seen me picking up litter, then still decided to throw a piece of plastic on the ground.

I'm not really sure what to do about this. Today I have been asking myself, "how can I help spread the word about keeping our beach clean, and reach these people who don't seem to care?" I will meditate on this this week.

-Susan


-- 
Susan Z. Miller
Freelance Writer and Editor
email: szmiller980@gmail.com
web: http://www.szmiller.homestead.com

week 15--Gina and Cindy in zone 3

Hi Ginger,

TRASH REPORT ZONE 3, WEDNESDAY 8/10/11

This morning, Cindy and I collected 4 bags of Trash.

The beach was very bad today with lots of cans, bottles, more then normal

Trash included:
plastic toys, straws, pieces of misc. papers, baby wipes, plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans, several pieces of clothing and lots of shoes, socks.

Gina DeVaughn
Cindy Wilson

week 14--Gina & Cindy in zone 3

Hi Ginger,

TRASH REPORT FROM WEDNESDAY 8/3/11
ZONE 3

Today Cindy and I collected 1 bag of Garbage along with 1 broken Chair we found on the beach.

Trash was the usual items:
beer cans, plastic misc pieces, clothing, & 1 lonely shoe.

GINA DEVAUGHN
CINDY WILSON

week 14--Susan finds 3 plastic bags in zone 3

Well, I have no photos today, which is unusual for me. But with the stormy weather being what it is, I didn't want to risk ruining my camera in the rain.
(Thank goodness for this rain, though!)

This morning, the litter in zone 3 actually seemed a bit better than normal. I collected a total of 2 grocery bags of trash, and just under half my reusable bag, (so equivalent to about 2 grocery bags) of recyclables and reusables. The recyclables included 1 pair of women's sandals, along with several sand toys, aluminum soda and beer cans, plastic shovels, and plastic water bottles. The trash was mostly plastic bags, cigarette butts, water bottle caps, bandaids, plastic cracker and snack wrappers, Silly Bands, paper receipts and tags, and plastic cups. I also found one stray Rainbow flip flop and a cracked neon pink bucket, which made a good receptacle for cigarette butts. The areas that included the most garbage were at Johnnie Mercer's Pier, and at beach access #29, which is the norm. The most unusual things I found were a green plastic flower pot, and a clump of beige colored carpet, both of which I found near #29.

The most disheartening part for me of collecting trash remains other beach goers' blatant disregard for the litter. This morning, I was walking down the beach with my trash bags, when 2 women entered the beach from a nearby access and began walking towards me. As they were walking, one lady stepped on a plastic water bottle, muttered "ick!" and just kept walking. I was astonished that she did not bother to pick it up. Even after she saw me bend down to pick it up then put it in my bag, she did not acknowledge me. Later I began to feel slightly better when a man who was drinking coffee and smoking on the beach promised me that he would put all of his trash in the garbage can. I said "thank you," and he responded "thank you." So at least not everyone lets the litter go unnoticed!

Ginger, I also wanted to specifically report that I retrieved two plastic grocery bags that had blown into the dunes. There was a third one that had blown up high enough that I was afraid I would cause damage to the dune if I tried to get it. I also frequently find empty plastic ice bags.

Peace,
Susan


-- 
Susan Z. Miller
Freelance Writer and Editor
email: szmiller980@gmail.com
web: http://www.szmiller.homestead.com

week 13--Gina & Cindy have a clean week in zone 3

Trash Report: Zone 3

Wednesday, 7/27

 

Cindy and I collected 3 grocery size bags of Trash.  This was the least amount that we have collected this Summer.  We were very surprised, since Zone 3 always has alot of Trash being close to the Pier, etc.

 

TRASH:

Plastic misc pieces

plastic shovel holders, straws, bottle caps, metal caps, plastic bottles, cans, paper tags from items, shovels, 1 tee shirt, 1 beach chair.

 

Gina DeVaughn

Cindy Wilson

week 12 Susan reports on structures, blowing plastic bags, cobalt blue sea glass and mysterious blue shreds

Hi Ginger!

Today, as always, was simply beautiful at the beach. The litter in zone 3 was fairly average in that it was concentrated around Johnnie Mercer's Pier, but not too bad elsewhere. One thing that did surprise me today was that there were fewer aluminum cans than I normally find, and I did not find any glass bottles at all. Today I picked up a total of 1 grocery bag of trash, which consisted of lots of random plastic (freeze pop wrappers, cracker and cookie wrappers, etc) 1 shirt, band aids, 1 disposable diaper, and lots of cigarette butts and plastic bottle caps.

I filled my reusable bag (equivalent to 4 grocery bags) with 1 unopened can of beer, 1 empty beer can, 3 plastic cups, 1 plastic candy container, 10 plastic water/juice/gatorade bottles, 1 pair of women's sandals, and 9 sand toys.

One issue that I ran into today was that there were 2 canopy structures, along with a few towels and chairs near beach access #25. It was actually hard to tell if they had been there overnight, or if they had just been set up that morning. There were some people swimming and surfing in that area, so I elected to leave these things alone and just focus on the things that I knew for sure were trash. And looking for turtle tracks, of course.

The highlight of the day was that I found my first ever piece of cobalt blue sea glass. Woo hoo! It is very pretty. The low of the day happened when I was almost finished walking my zone, and was heading back towards Johnnie Mercer's Pier. It was rather windy at the beach this morning, and as I was walking, a plastic grocery bag went whipping past me in the wind from behind. I considered running to catch it, but it was really on the move, and it's awfully hard to run in dry sand. But as I looked up at it I thought, "It's okay. Surely one of those other people will pick it up." Then I watched as 6 different people walked right past the plastic bag. One girl ignored it and kept walking when it actually blew up against her leg. This left me feeling very discouraged.

Lastly, does anyone know what this mysterious blue plastic litter is? There were shreds of it, some of it very small, scattered all throughout my zone.

Peace,
Susan

week 12 Cindy and Gina in zone 3

TRASH REPORT ZONE 3 - WEDNESDAY JULY 20TH, 2011

 

3 broken chairs

several pieces of clothing

plastic shovels, pails

misc pieces of plastic: straws, bottle caps, plastic bottles, broken pieces of plastic.

beer cans, soda cans

metal twist off caps

misc shoes

paper tags from clothing, tissue papers, plastic bags

 

We filled 5 Plastic bags with the above items!

 

Gina DeVaughn

Cindy Wilson

week 11 Susan finds little trash at JM PIer

This morning was perfectly picturesque at Wrightsville Beach. 

There was a cool breeze, and for the first time in months, I was able to walk without getting sweaty. It was so refreshing! I also love it when the ocean water feels warmer than the air temperature-- nature's hot tub.

 

The first thing I noticed upon walking onto the beach at Johnnie Mercer's Pier was six beach chairs, in various states of disrepair, that were all on or near the tide line. Two of them were in the water and slowly being dragged out to sea. I made three trips up to the trash can with them, carrying two at a time.

 A man stood very nearby with his metal detector and watched me but did not offer to help. I did not think this was very nice. So my first thought of the morning was, "this does not bode well for me." But fortunately, I was wrong.

 

Overall, there was really not much litter at all today. In fact, there was so much less than normal that I am wondering if perhaps someone did a clean sweep yesterday evening to prepare for today's big surf tournament. There were lots of cigarette butts and plastic debris at the high tide line that obviously washed up during the night, but overall the areas that normally have lots of trash were not bad at all today. 

The changing area next to JM Pier, for example, is usually full of clothing, shoes, diapers, fast food bags, etc. It is often just a terrible mess here, so much so that I never include it in my normal beach litter count. But today there was nothing except for two plastic water bottles that had both rolled under the wooden benches.

 

So really, my walk was quite nice today. I only collected one bag of trash, which consisted primarily of bottle caps and cigarette butts from the tide line. I also filled my reusable bag 1/2 full (equivalent to 2 grocery bags) with recyclables and reusables. This included 2 plastic bottles and 9 aluminum soda/beer cans. 

7 of the cans I actually retrieved from one specific spot. They were all buried in the sand. I noticed the tip of one gleaming in the sun, and when I went to pick it up, the sand under it seemed suspiciously mounded. So I kicked it around and discovered 6 more cans. Other reusables included 12 sand toys and 2 pairs of flip flops.

 

There was quite a bit of activity on the beach as early as 6 am today, including a very large structure that was being set up for the surfing tournament near access #27. I hope there were no turtle tracks there! Overall, it was fun to see such a flurry of activity there early in the morning. There was definitely a lot of energy and excitement!

 

-Susan 

--
Susan Z. Miller
Freelance Writer and Editor
email: szmiller980@gmail.com
web: http://www.szmiller.homestead.com

A side note is that the yellow hand digger pictured with the toys above are very helpful for filling in holes.  

Another side note is that I love Susan's picture of the sun and pier---beautiful.

week 11 Gina & Cindy find lots of straws and bottle caps in zone 3

TRASH REPORT ZONE 3

7/13/2011

 

Gina DeVaughn

Cindy Wilson

 

Today was not that bad compared to prior weeks.  We filled 2 Plastic Bags, but they were the plastic bags from Target, that are larger then the normal plastic bags from the food stores, and they were very full & heavy!!!!

 

The following TRASH was collected:

 

1 Comforter Blanket

2 Towels

5 pieces of clothing

1 Flipflop

5 plastic shoves

1 plastic sand bucket

plastic stand for umbrella

2 broken sand chairs

5 beer cans

3 plastic mini liquor bottles

metal beer can caps

tissues, papers, tags from items

chapstick

suntan lotion

LOTS of Plastic Straws

plastic bottle caps (LOTS)
broken pieces of misc. plastic

pieces from Fireworks

 

I think that sums up our list from today!

 

week 11 Susan does an extra clean up and finds 6 Diapers!!!

Hi Ginger,

I did an extra litter clean up this morning. My brother and his girlfriend were in town visiting from Washington DC, and wanted to visit the beach for an early morning walk. So while they strolled and looked for shells, I picked up litter around Johnnie Mercer's Pier. Unfortunately, the amount of litter today was downright appalling. I only picked up trash from underneath and directly on either side of the pier, and I quickly filled up my reusable bag (4 grocery bags), then just walked back and forth to the trash cans with many additional items.

Recyclables and reusables included 2 pairs of men's flip flops,

1 pair of girl's water shoes, 4 soda/beer cans, 8 sand toys,

18 soda/water bottles, 4 plastic cups,

1 pair of glasses,

 and 1 pair of sunglasses. Items that I put right in the trash included 3 towels, 1 bra, 2 pairs of underwear, 1 tee shirt, and 1 large metal tent spike. Additional trash items included many snack bags (Fritos, Doritos, etc), McDonalds food containers, a broken chair, lots of straws, Capri Sun drink packs, and lots of assorted plastic.

The most discouraging part of the day for me was that I picked up and threw away 6 dirty disposable diapers. Not one, not two, not three... six. Four of them were actually close together underneath the pier, (as shown in this photo)

then I found 2 others in separate areas. Now, I am not a mother, so I know that I cannot truly understand or sympathize with the huge amount of work that is motherhood (and fatherhood, of course). But once you have the dirty diaper off, is it really that hard to throw it in the trash?? Truly, I am appalled that anyone would leave a completely unbiodegradable bundle of plastic, feces and urine to be swept out to sea. I'd like to include a link here to an article I wrote about a year ago that details the toxins that are contained in disposable diapers. I'm going to hope that somehow, someway, the careless diaper-litter-leavers will find this blog post and change their ways! http://www.organicfertilizersources.com/blog/organic-fertilizer-beyond-the-crap/just-how-dangerous-are-disposable-diapers

Okay, well I'm climbing off my soapbox for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that this is THE week for another turtle track discovery!

-Susan

week 10 A Wedding & A Helping Hand by Gina & Sami

Hi Ginger,


TRASH REPORT ZONE 3  Wednesday, JULY 6TH, 2011

Today I walked with my daughter, Sami, 12 yrs. old -  (Cindy, hope your foot is feeling better) Besides collecting 4 Bags of Trash, it was a very interesting morning!  We saw a Sun-Rise Wedding on the beach and met a young man, along our walk that offered to help pick up trash, & asked us for an extra trash bag, so I gladly gave him one, and thanked him.

We collected 4 Plastic Bags of Trash
plastic straws, plastic spoons, bottle caps, lots of pieces from firework items, beer bottles, soda cans, plastic shovels, flip flops, 2 broken chairs, boogie board, sheet, 2 towels, bathing suit and a comforter.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Gina DeVaughn and Sami

week 10 Wicked Clouds & a Skeletal Bone by Susan

Well, I've had 2 crazy weather adventures 2 weeks in a row. I'm on a roll! This morning was really quite amazing at WB. When I arrived, it was looking rather threatening. Then the sun came out while I was walking my zone. I made it to the end at beach access #32, when it poured very hard for only about 60 seconds. On my return trip the weather varied wildly between sun, then clouds, then seriously black clouds with thunder and lightning. I know the weather changes quickly on the coast here, but sheesh!

One neat thing about the weather was that it made for some cool cloud formations and awesome shell hunting.

I did, however, complete one full walk of my zone, then go back and look for shells just so that I wouldn't be distracted the first time around!

The two areas with the most litter in my zone this morning were right around Johnnie Mercer's Pier, and at beach access #29. (There is a large hotel at this access, but I am not sure what it is called.) There was just so much litter in both of these spots-- really overwhelming amounts. I collected one full bag of trash at each of these spots, then a third bag through the remainder of my zone. I also filled my reusable bag about 3/4 full, which is equivalent to 3 bags of recyclables. Large items that I took to the trash right away included some sort of large plastic horn, 2 broken shovels, and 1 tee shirt.

Recyclables today included 2 beer bottles, 11 plastic water/iced tea/soda bottles, 5 beer cans, and 8 plastic sand toys.

I discarded my trash at the beach today rather than bringing it home and sorting it, so I'm not sure about the counts there. However, there were an awful lot of plastic water bottle caps.

And it felt like I was picking up another straw every time I turned around. There were so, so many straws, and lots of other plastic litter today as well, such as these bracelets. I am not sure what these are from, but there were several of them. This one had green smiley faces on it, but the majority of the ones I found were neon orange.

The most interesting thing I found today was what I at first thought was a large piece of plastic. However, upon further inspection I discovered that it was a bone from some sort of marine animal. It smelled highly unpleasant.

-Susan