Every day that we have the opportunity to get on the water is a gift. The farther we travel the more we realize how fortunate we are in America to be surrounded by clean seas. But they need our help. Our rivers and seas are filling with trash at an ever increasing rate. Plastic packaging, cigarette butts, plastic shopping bags, the list goes on. What kind of person would accept the challenge of stemming this onslaught?
Last year nearly 600,000 visionaries picked up 9 million pounds of trash from beaches and rivers in 153 countries on International Coastal Cleanup Day. This year we are faced with a daunting new challenge, the first signs of debris from the Japanese Tsunami are starting to reach US shores. NOAA estimates that of the 5 million tons of debris that entered the sea off Japan, 1.5 million tons remained afloat and entered the Pacific Gyre. This spring the first signs of that debris started landing on the west coast of North America. Now, more than ever, the ocean needs our help.
Saturday September 15th marks the 27th year of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. This is the opportunity that you’ve been waiting for, a chance to spend the morning with your friends at the beach, pitching in to help the earth’s greatest natural resource. The sea not only feeds us and provides the bulk of the oxygen that we breathe, it also provides endless recreational opportunity. It gives us the chance to take a deep breath and take stock of all that we are so fortunate to have. A chance to realign our priorities of health, family, and friends. So please join me and your friends for a few hours beginning around 9 am on Saturday and join the largest volunteer conservation effort on the planet. And start paying back our ocean for the bounty that she provides us every day. For a list of your local sites visit Ocean Conservancy’s website here, or simply head to the coast and pitch in!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead