More often than I’d like to admit, while walking
along what should be a pristine beach, I’ve tangled my feet in fishing line.
Pesky little problem and ugly, too. Unfortunately, other signs of human
carelessness often litter the drifting sands. A flattened milk jug. A
single flip flop. A soda can so worn that its label is all but gone.
Even a little trash along shorelines causes trouble
for marine creatures. Ropes, nets, and fishing lines snare whales and dolphins
so they cannot surface and breathe. Instead they drown. These manmade traps
also entangle sharks, endangering their survival. Refuse destroys habitats and
the sea creatures that live in them.
A little help from us goes a long way in protecting
nature (ultimately, our own habitat), both above and below water. When we visit
a park or a beach, of course we plan to clean up after ourselves. But what if we did
a bit more? Pick up trash left by someone else. Coil stray fish lines into a messy
ball to tote out when we leave.
As the saying goes, many hands make light work.
Sometimes I see this in my kitchen after dinner (if I’m lucky!). I’ve seen it
after the Joplin Tornado when hundreds of youth picked up miniscule scraps of
paper plastered all over a local park. An impossible task for one, but
something easy and fun for a group. Something they can take pride in, even years
later.
What are some ways you protect the
environment? How have you seen small efforts by many pay off?
Makes me think of the Scouts motto of Leaving No Trace. It also makes me think of the one beautiful thing that comes from trash in the sea...beach glass/sea glass. It makes for beautiful jewelry and fun to try to find on the beach....if only we could find another way to make that happen....
ReplyDeleteThat's so true. I love sea glass.
ReplyDeleteWe usually take our own trash and the one that is around us at the beach or the woods. Our kids learnt that at an early age and now as teens they do that naturally whether thay are with us or not.
ReplyDeleteBit by bit, it all adds up. :)
It's inspiring to see teens take care of the earth even when no one is there to ask them to do so. Great job teaching them!
DeleteAfter a major flood we had where I live in upstate New York (from two tropical storms less than two weeks apart at the end of our wettest summer on record) I was saddened by seeing all the garbage deposited wherever the water had been. It did take a lot of hands and cooperative effort to get our recovery going and it is still ongoing. Garbage is such a serious problem in the sea too, as you point out, including the islands of garbage that have formed in the middle of the ocean.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. I was absolutely stunned when I learned about the huge garbage rafts floating in our gorgeous seas. The ocean shouldn't be a dump!
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