Wrightsville Beach Trashy Talking Turtlers Week 7

July 12 - July 18
Here is a shout out to all of you Trashy Talking Turtlers!
I can not believe all of the work that you have been doing for the past 7+ weeks. Here are your numbers:
Totals for Week 7:
We picked up trash in 19 of the 42 zones (45 percent)
Zone 0 = 8.5 bags
Zone 1 = 1.5 bags
Zone 2 = 9.75 bags
Zone 3 = 5 bags
Zone 4 = 5.5 bags
Zone 5 = 7.5 bags
Total for Week 7 = 37.75 bags
Grand Total = 284.25 (and always this does not include all of the beach towels, chairs, broken boogie boards and other random items that are too large for the bags.)

Trash vs. Treasure
I am pasting some of your e-mails here that represent the activity that we are finding on the beach. Please note that Terri and John Littlejohn's report includes some of those large random items that don't get included in our total numbers because we do not convert these items into bags. I wonder how many bags we would have if we did convert this type of litter into numbers of bags – hmmm…

Zone 1 had a large number of trash items this morning, more than I've ever seen before. There were six broken chairs, two quilts and two towels—all non-salvageable. Plus, one medium-sized garden-type shovel.
John Littlejohn

Morgan and I collected about 6 grocery-sized bags today in Zone 0. We collected two bags of traditional trash—these contained cigarette butts, straws, plastic straw covers, one flip flop, one water shoe, one belt (weird), several plastic water bottles, a few beer cans and fabric softener sheets.

The majority of the bulk was due to the remains of what looked like an after-hours wedding party in front of Shell Island Resort. There was a bow tie, a receipt for a tux rental and a beer can with a coozie that told the bride and groom's name with date of 7/17/2010. There was one full six pack of beer (complete with cardboard carrier), two empty cans of store-bought boiled peanuts, and about a case of empty beer cans (and cardboard case) plus several empty beer bottles. There were cigarette butts and cigarette packages as well. We left behind a broken Styrofoam cooler, several full beer cans and an attachment into which I am guessing an umbrella is placed. We just couldn't carry them all to the trash.
No tracks :(
Talk to you soon,
Kathleen

Zone 2 on Thursday was loaded with cigarette butts. Hundreds. We collected half of a 13-gallon bag. Lots of drink bottles. Also, there is more and more evidence of dogs on the beach.
Thanks,
Richard

I subbed for Page in Zone 5 this morning.
Lots of trash—we picked up 4 bags and could have done much more. Around Oceanic it was a mess, trash cans overflowing, and it almost looked like people just dropped trash from the Oceanic outdoor dining area. Picked up lots of Styrofoam plates around Oceanic; a lot of beer cans and bottles near the inlet, one unopened Bud Light; whoever played volleyball down near there had Jersey Mike’s for dinner last night and left all the wrappings—apparently for the whole team. Left a small life jacket and some sunglasses on the beach as there were surfers out who may have (hopefully) been the owners. A few holes but not bad. Large dog tracks.
Julie Nichols

This week's Lumina News
I picked up a Lumina News last Thursday and was thrilled after reading it. Not because the Trashy Talking Turtlers were mentioned in the "My Thoughts" section (although that was pretty cool), but because of a little five-year-old girl named Kirra who is afraid that the sea turtles will choke from all the cigarettes on the beach. If you have not read this article, you will really want to—you will fall in love with this little girl and what seems to be her innate passion to make the Earth a cleaner place. Here is the link: http://www.luminanews.com/article.asp?aid=6649&iid=229&sud=42
As I said last week, you have to love the next generation – they just may change the world!!!

Reduce Plastic Consumption
A picture is worth a thousand words!
Although recycling is wonderful, we all know that we should reduce our plastic consumption. Here is a slide show of what a recycling plant looks like. If you were not convinced to reduce your consumption before watching this slide show, you probably will be convinced after watching it. It is pretty unreal how much trash we produce. One quote on the slide show is that Americans dispose of 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour and we make 750,000 photocopies every minute of every day. Here is the link: http://www.good.is/post/picture-show-waste-management

Guess Who was Caught Wearing a WBSTP T-Shirt????
Mayor David Cignotti was caught sporting a WBSTP Logo T-shirt at the Reef/Sweetwater Pro-Am Surf Fest on Sunday! I must say, the shirt looked great! Thank you Mayor Cignotti!

Events At WB
On Saturday, July 24, there will be a ''Mullet Run" which is a combination of running and paddle boarding. This is the first competition of its kind at WB. The funds raised from the event will benefit Surfer’s Healing an event during which surfers help children, who have been diagnosed with autism, take to the waves. The other charity that will benefit from this event is the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital. You can read about the event in Lumina News or click on this link: http://www.luminanews.com/article.asp?aid=6644&iid=229&sud=43

Thanks for all you do.
I sure hope a mother sea turtle visits us tonight!