Over 36 Pounds

Very excited... I am taking a Speakers' Training Course called Rise Above Plastics. Yesterday was our first class. We met at Venice Beach for a clean-up to see exactly what gets washed up/left behind on a daily basis. We arrived with buckets and gloves and great attitudes, and set to work picking up what we could.

Just my small contribution to the pick-up.

The beach looked pretty clean on a sunny Saturday morning. The craziness of Venice Beach had not quite hit full force yet, and there were surfers, and people riding bikes on the path. Typical Southern California day. We were to go out for just 20 minutes. In that time, about 40 of us picked up almost 40 pounds of crap.

When you think about that number, please realize that the nearly 20 cigarette butts I personally found weigh very very little. It takes a lot of those to make a pound. Bottle caps, same thing, they are pretty light. Also, most of what I was trying to grab were tiny little broken bits of Styrofoam. You know, that stuff you use for mere minutes but then it never, ever, ever goes away? Styrofoam and plastic will never break down completely; they are here for good. I picked up countless little bits that used to be something bigger and got broken up out there to be eaten by fish and other animals that have no idea that what they are eating is going to kill them.

The other thing about cigarette butts: think about all those chemicals and carcinogens that we humans happily and willingly take into our bodies, and what is left in the filters. Now realize that when that filter hits the water, those chemicals get leached out immediately into the water. Now think about the 100 or so that we picked up in 20 minutes on one tiny stretch of beach on one morning. That adds up to a lot of chemicals. The oceans can only handle so much. Small little tiny creatures directly affected, which affects the bigger guys, which affects the even bigger guys, which eventually comes right around to... us. Is there any wonder the cancer rate among our children and pets has exploded? I never wonder. I know why.

And soon, I will go around speaking out alllllll about it. Come see me!