(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Continuing our coverage of a very busy day around West Seattle: Dozens of volunteers hit the beach this morning at Alki for a cleanup sponsored by JACK-FM radio. Here’s the Kazen family, doing their part:
This was one of many cleanups today around the region/state/world – in honor of International Coastal Cleanup Day.
Agree with EmmyJane, Thank You! If I didn’t have my nose down in work today, I’d love to have been there picking up trash.
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We should all feel inclined to pick up trash as we see it every time we’re there. I think that would help a lot too.
So proud of where I live because of all the people who make time to do what’s needed over and over and over…Love my community! Way to go!!
I can’t get the images of dead young birds with stomachs filled with cigarette butts, bottle caps, plastic straws, pens, shards of glass, plastic bags, … out of my head. Their parents “feed” them this stuff because it surrounds them and they don’t know that it’s deadly.
Now I’m noticing litter everywhere I go and realizing that it all ends up in our oceans and lakes when it goes down storm drains. I’ve started picking it up and putting it in nearby garbage cans.
I think each of us can make a huge difference if we pitch in even a little bit, picking up the litter next to our houses or when we’re in a parking lot – wherever we see it.
Everyday I have to pick up trash on the sidewalk in front of my house and on the lawn. Many people will park along the street to catch the bus and when they move their cars it seems they empty their garbage too, right in the street. Pretty sure they don’t do that in their own neighborhoods.
Thank you for picking it up anyway, helridge. They just may litter wherever they are. I’d love to see/get a public education campaign going on the importance of proper disposal of our trash and thinking of ways to generate less of it in the first place. Imagine the difference it could make if each one of us did what you do, and took responsibility for the sidewalk and curb in front of our homes (and businesses). Not only would it show that littering isn’t acceptable here; It would keep trash from washing down storm drains, into Puget Sound, and ultimately into the Pacific gyre.
Some people who wouldn’t litter other items, still flick their cigarette butts onto the ground. Many smokers don’t realize that cigarette butts are not biodegradable. They’re made of celulose acetate which is a kind of plastic. If smokers carried a pocket ashtray, they could hold onto their butts ;) until they can properly dispose of them. Pocket ashtrays can be improvised out of a simple piece of foil or a little airtight candy/pastille tin, or an old plastic film canister, or there are several commercial varieties.
By the way, Alki is not the only place in need of a work crew. Along with our curbs, the little beach across from La Rustica and the beach side of Mee Kwa Mooks are in serious need of adoption. I filled a large bag of garbage during my walk there on Sunday. It was mostly cigarette butts at Mee Kwa Mooks, and at the “La Rustica Beach” it was mostly styrofoam caught and breaking into smaller bits amongst the driftwood. Tip: secure styrofoam in a windproof container for disposal.
Thanks to everyone who does what they can!
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