Happy World Oceans Day

We thought we would celebrate World Oceans Day by heading down to the beach and having our own cleanup.

The beach we chose is one that we go to with my Dad, usually as the sun comes up to see if the fish are biting. We were a little later today and the carpark was choc-o-block.

The main difference I noticed from last week was the number of smaller pieces of plastic which really reminded me of a video I saw earlier in the week called A Bottle's Odyssey.

I was also amazed with the number of cigarette butts that we found. According to data collected across Australia, butts are the biggest form of littering by number. After this morning, I can see why. These were everywhere!

No undies were in our haul this week but there were a few strange bits and pieces.  We found a plastic soldier, four empty condom packets and a bong. Luckily we were prepared with gloves and long handle grabbers.

I was feeling a little disheartened as the area was so busy and still a lot of litter that we didn't manage to collect, but then a little boy rode past with his dad and I heard him say, "I want to do that too, Dad. It's good for the environment."  I wanted to go up and hug him but thought that there are laws against random ladies hugging other people's children. Instead I just gave the dad a smile.

We finished the morning with a coffee and hot chocolate that we had brought from home in thermoses and a snack that I had picked up from the bakery on our way down. At the end, we packed everything back in the cooler bag and headed off home. We were all in dire need of a hot shower.

We didn't weight this week's collection but I think it would have been at least over five kilograms. Not as much as the eight kilograms last week but the pieces were much smaller.

It is nice to feel that we are making a bit of a difference. A small one, but a difference.

What did you get up to this weekend? Did you spend any time at the beach?

Take care.

Beachcombing Update

We're back.

With just eight hands, one claws and 40 minutes we managed to collect 8 kilograms of litter.

We were all pretty amazed with the sort of litter we collected. There was no surprise with the plastic, takeaway containers and broken fishing gear, but 3 pairs of undies? And yes, that is half a fishing rod poking out of the bag.

With the grabber that I picked up from a hardware store (left), the kiddoes didn't even need prodding to help out. 

Make sure to check out the Two Hands Project, especially with World Oceans Day coming up next week.

Take care

Beachcombing

As I have mentioned before, we are really lucky to live by the coast. We appreciate our location not only on those 40+ degree days in the middle of a scorching summer, but also over the cooler months. After a storm is a great time to head down there, all rugged up and on the look out for what has washed ashore.

The kiddoes love to wander looking through the seaweed while dodging the waves. It is amazing what you can see.

Something that really hit me this time was the amount of litter.

It really made me think about the Two Hands Project: two hands, 30 minutes, clean up yOUR world.

The skies opened and we quickly headed back to the car, but this long weekend I am planning on heading back down there with gloves and bags and spending 30 minutes cleaning up my beach.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Take care