Six Million Pounds of Trash on World's beaches
Hard to believe, but it's true over six million pounds of trash was collected in one day on beaches around the globe.
Ocean Conservancy released a detailed snapshot of worldwide beach trash cleanup in a report today. It cataloged nearly 7.2 million items that were collected by volunteers on a single day last September as they combed beaches all over the world. Over 33,000 miles of shoreline were covered and approximately 182 pounds of trash per mile was collected. That's mind boggling to me.
"This is a snapshot of one day, one moment in time, but it serves as a powerful reminder of our carelessness and how our disparate and random actions actually have a collective and global impact," says Vikki Spruill, president of the Ocean Conservancy.
Much of this garbage on the shore eventually will end up in our oceans and has the potential to cause catastrophic damage to marine life. Trash in the ocean kills more than one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles every single year.
On a personal note Stacy and I just hosted our first beach cleanup last month and it was quite eye opening. I would definitely recommend everybody do it at least once. It's a real learning experience it will change the way you look at your everyday use of plastic. We are hosting another cleanup in June if you would like to join in let us know. We would love the help.
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About this blog
Roxanne Kotzman is a Daily News Photo Department veteran of nine years. When she and longtime friend Stacy Long
discovered their love all of all things environmentally responsible, they launched Happy Monkey Planet and jumped head-first into the vibrant eco-community.
Wow, so much to learn! But initially the idea is a pretty simple one: Let's change the world through information, education and action.
Rox & Stacy are a lot like you: ecologically minded but sometimes just plain overwhelmed when charged with the task of making a far-reaching difference in the environment. They have jobs, families, homes, lives and pets.
But what if doing better was a simple as a light-bulb change, a reusable canvas grocery bag, recycling that soda can or a cold-water wash?
These eco-chicks just hope to have a little fun, learn a little more, share a lot of information and maybe make the planet a happier, greener, cleaner place.
So it took a report by the Ocean Conservancy to tell everyone else something I already knew… smokers are thoughtless litterers!
What most smokers don’t realize is that the butt they throw out their window 30 miles away from the ocean will eventually get to the ocean. If not the next rain, then the one after that…
As someone who frequents the beach I see this evidence almost everyday. As someone who lives in Southern California I cheer when city-by-city our beaches ban smoking on the sand - at least it's a start.
Oh, second on the list: food wrappers...
Pick up after yourselves people - your mama ain’t here to do it for you!!