Trash

I love picking up trash. I actually enjoy it. I find it fulfilling in several ways: the trash I find interests me; it's good exercise; it feels good to do something good; and it puts me in touch with my environment and community. This morning I picked up a 13 gallon bag of trash at Oceanside Pier North Side. There's a storm drain that runs right out into the ocean at the bottom of the Surfrider Turn-out. Because it rained the past few days, there was more trash than usual. This beach is heavily used and gets a lot of trash, despite the plethora of trash and recycling receptacles available on the Strand.

Spending time during my surf-check/ morning walk picking up trash really made me think more about getting involved in environmental work. I am becoming more and more aware of our environmental problems and more invested in what I can do, personally, to help things and change my own habits. I am interested in investigating ways that I can recycle more, use less pollutants, and use products that are more environmentally "friendly".

This morning's walk really helped raise my awareness of the types of trash that are most prevalent. Cigarette butts, but far, are the most pervasive pollutants. For a while during my walk I felt overwhelmed at the enormity of the chore of picking up literally hundreds--or thousands--of cigarette butts. (It is mind boggling how many people smoke despite the obvious destructiveness of the habit.) Also, Styrofoam was everywhere in constellations of a million tiny pieces. Next, were plastic caps—not just bottle caps, but caps for everything—pens, lip balm, all kinds of things… And finally, I found a pacifier, used condoms, pens, all kinds of things we use every day. It was fascinating. I’m looking forward to picking up trash again.