I have just spent a good amount of time trying to post these damn pictures, so if they don't come up please view all images.
I had to go down to base today and run several errands. So I asked Amber if she would like to go to the beach after I was done with everything. So this morning we loaded everything up and headed south.
We got to the beach and we got all set up. That's when I said "lets go walk the beach". We walked maybe a mile or so. We watched marines training and we talked about life, then we turned around. It was then that I told Amber to give me her towel. I made a sack out of it and started picking up trash. I gave Amber the camera and told her to go take pictures of the trash.
Amber did as I asked but she could not believe that she was taking pictures of trash on a beach. I always talk about my beach clean up days and this time I wanted to show everyone some of the stuff that I find.
Amber then asked me when I started picking trash up on beaches. I just smiled and said "You for years I have brought you guys here. We would walk up and down the beach and one day I just got sick of it. I no longer wanted my children swimming in trash. I did not start out to save animals or to be eco friendly. I just wanted you guys to be able to swim on a clean beach."
Among the trash we found was a shirt, girls underwear, a condom wrapper, and lots of beer can's. I will leave that to you imagination as to how they got there. I found a ton of balloons and that bright string that birds like. I also found a string a beads and a city street cover that said water. One of the most useful things I found was a sand bag. O.K. I can actually see a sand bag on a beach on a marine base, but I filled it with more trash.
At the end of our walk we filled a 55 gallon trash bag!
There are also two disturbing things that I found on the beach. One of them was the dead animals. I often see dead birds but today I saw two of them! I have never and I mean never in all my years of going to this beach have I seen a dead seal. So far this year I have seen two!
The other disturbing thing was all the trash that was in a birds nesting area! This area was set aside by the base so that the birds would be safe and here it was filled with trash!
I would love to be the beach police and make sure that everyone leaves with what they came with, but that would only solve half the problem. A lot of the trash comes from boats and cruise ships. They just dump stuff and then it washes up on our beaches.
The really sad thing is, this was not a public beach. This was a beach on a marine base. What ever happened to pride?
So many times I have been tempted to take my pictures and start showing them to everyone until someone stands up and takes notice of the condition of the beach. Rusty told me not to because at the time he was on active duty. So now that he is retired does that mean I can raise hell?
I must really think about this, because everything I do will still reflect on my husband. Until I decide I will keep walking the beach and picking up the trash. People throw you trash away!
4 comments:
Katie is five and she will not litter. Not even a napkin. She has to find a trashcan. I think I'm making a difference too by example and raising one right. We take our stuff to the recycling center too. And reuse, reuse reuse.
This makes me sad. It's worse now than what it was back in the 70's when I was Fernandina Beach in Fla. This is far worse. People just don't give a rip anymore about anything but themselves. That's just the way it is now. :{
yOU GO GIRL! i DO WHAT i CAN AND IF i WAS YOUNGER i WOULD DO MORE. wHEN WE LIVED AT THE RANCH i PICKED UP THE LITTER PEOPLE THREW OUT OF THEIR CARS ON THE FARM TO MARKET ROAD IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE. wE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL OF RATTLESNAKES THIS TIME OF YEAR HERE.
Wow ... I feel so sad to see the dead animals because I suspect that they have died, not from natural causes, but because of something "man" did. I'm also just shocked at the amount of trash you picked up on a private beach ... those who dumped it should be very ashamed of themselves ... I'm ashamed of them.
I think that there is nothing wrong with making people aware of a situation and asking those who can help to do something. If you write letters or contact people in a respectful manner, I can't see where it would jeopardize your husbands reputation at all. In fact, it might enhance it!
While it is uncomfortable to view your pictures ... it does raise awareness. Thank you!
Small Footprints
http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com
i never understood why people leave their trash around like that. thats so awful that so much trash is on a beach.
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