Starting to Sea a Change

25th Annual Coastal Clean Up Day
Saturday, September 19

"She sells Sea Shells by the Seashore” I am not sure if that’s the best route to get us out of the recession. Does anyone know the dollar to shell exchange rate on the market right now? If used soda bottles or discarded chip bags and cigarette butts were a commodity there certainly could be a market because they are more plentiful then shells on our beaches at times. My daughter brings them to me with the same elated satisfaction as if they were gold doubloons in a treasure chest.  She’s four, after all, and thinks most “finds and discoveries” are fascinating.
It is with this sense of adventure and satisfaction, I signed up my little trash collecting “minions” (children) and myself for the 25th Annual Coastal Clean Up Day on Saturday, September 19.

My teenager, not as excited and eager unless there’s a game console attached to the project, hasn’t yet warmed to the idea. “Patience, my young Padawan. There are many artifacts you can carry with your wooden boken and a big industrial trash bag… And so you won’t be alone on your journey, I signed up your friends as well,” I enthusiastically counter.
Locally, ECOSLO, the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County, is coordinating clean up efforts at twenty-eight beaches on the coast.  An estimated 1,500 volunteers will help remove the trash and debris affecting the Central Coast’s beautiful beaches and oceans. Everyone is invited to participate from 9 a.m. to noon at the beach of their choice. To sign up contact Ecoslo (see  sidebar for details).
Started in 1985, over 2,500 volunteers in California came together to clean up the beaches, coastline, and waterways. That same year, the International Coastal Clean Up day, headed by the Ocean Conservancy, was also established to make a global impact. And what an impact they have made!
In 1993, the California Coastal Clean Up was registered in the Guinness Book of World Records for largest garbage collection. Since 1985, over 800,000 Californian’s have personally picked up more then 13 million pounds of debris. Internationally, over 400,000 volunteers globally, collected more then 6.8 million pounds of trash last year. This covered 104 countries and 42 states in the US, which was the largest volunteer effort of its kind. In 2008, the top 3 sources of beach litter were: cigarette butts, plastic bags, and food wrappers and containers. 
With more public awareness given to the urgency of Oceanic health by the Ocean Conservancy, Green Peace, Ecoslo, and countless more, Americans have the opportunity to turn the tide on pollution.
Coastal Clean Up Day, offers another day to gather with friends and family to clean up the California Coastline.  Indeed with budget cut-backs, the need is that much stronger that Californian’s take a pro-active approach towards the clean up of beaches in the Central Coast County alone.
Adaire has just been informed, that if the seashell value rises a quarter more percent, her wage will be paid in Cowrie, and Pu ca shells!