Sunday, April 8, 2012

It Starts With ME

Easter Sunday
April 8, 2012

This morning Baylee and I rose before the sun, walked to the beach and waited for it's arrival - my own private, personal sunrise celebration on Easter Sunday.  To the right, a gentleman was far down doing the same thing.  To my left, closer to the pier, was another gentleman.  All of us standing still. Waiting.  The sky lightened just before a bright white dot popped over the horizon.  I stood until the sun was free, rising higher into the morning blue, counted my blessings and then headed for home.  Happy Easter.

Today marks the beginning of a new project.  Researching North Carolina habitats, native plants and critters, looking for preserves, gardens and conservation areas I unexpectedly stumbled upon a cause.  A younger, more savvy person thought up this cause and was running like crazy with it. I was ready for something proactive to do and this cause totally fits me.  Basically, it's something I can do when we go to the beach.  In my down time I'll be doing something worthwhile for our planet.  I like that.

Danielle lives to make a difference.  She is the kind of motivated young woman who is truly inspirational - a fabulous role model for kids of all ages.  To say Danielle's blog is about picking up litter would be an understatement.  Words here cannot fully express the depth of her project and how far reaching it is becoming. Her beach butts project got my attention.  How many cigarette butts have I seen on the beach since being here?  Tons.  And how many had I picked up?  Not one.  Until now.

Danielle and I have made contact and I am doing my part for The Daily Ocean.  Above are the fruits of my labor at Fort Fisher's public beach.  In 20 minutes I found 150 cigarette butts and a whole lotta trash....including a bright orange plastic Easter egg. 

For my part I'll walk Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Fort Fisher to clean up and give her counts as often as possible.  Also, the preserves, conservation sites, gardens, etc. that I visit to blog about I'll do the same.  Danielle is keeping up with all this stuff but I'll also keep a running tab in my sidebar.  Please visit Danielle's blog - I made a BIG BUTTON linking to her in the sidebar - or you can link here to It Starts With Me.  Tell her I sent ya and give her lots of kudos.  She deserves it.

5 comments:

Gaelyn said...

Great cause. I've been a litter picker for decades.

You also might want to check out becoming a citizen scientist with USGS http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3064

Lea said...

I am amazed and horrified at the amount of litter I see everyday on the roads. Each morning as I walk out to our road to get the newspaper, I pick up trash that has been thrown onto our property overnight!

Happy Easter to you!
Lea
Lea's Menagerie

Unknown said...

What a great project. If each one of us took the time to do one small thing it would be huge. Thanks Debi. Congratulations on making a difference!

Cheers!
Julie
Julie Magers Soulen Photography

Liz said...

Good job! I left that area a few months ago and spent much time picking up litter on the beach. I'm sure you will see similar sights as these: http://littersucks.wordpress.com/

Keep up the good work!

Liz

Carol said...

Oh Debie, I find it so sad that people can be so thoughtless but how positive to collect all that garbage and take it away from such a pristine beach. Are you now living on the ocean? I love your new header photo. I will have to scroll through your posts to see what I have missed. Carol

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