Family Beach Clean-up

A couple of weeks ago, my sister, niece, nephew and I went to the Ron Jon resort in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It's a great place for families with a big pool, a lazy river and a water slide. But the best part is that it's a only a short distance to the beach.

On that Saturday morning, the kids and I set out to check out the waves and do a little seashell hunting.

We were quickly disappointed when we found very few seashells but plenty of trash.

Straws, bottle caps, plasic bags...all lined up neatly where the foamy water met the dry sand.
I pulled the kids aside and explained how dangerous all of this waste is to the sealife and how the fish can choke on the small pieces of plastic, often mistaking it for food.

Theresa, who is fourteen, had heard my lecture the last time she and I were on the beach a few weeks earlier. Once I started talking, she gave me the classic teenager eye roll and continued down the beach.

Robert, who at eight hasn't had time to hear all of my lectures, listened closely and began to help me pick up trash. Our blue sand pail filled up quickly.

"Is this bad ,Auntie?" he would ask as he held up an unidentifiable piece of plastic.

"Throw it in!"

When Robert found an unopened water bottle, he couldn't believe it.

"Why would someone do that?" he shouted.

I wished I had an answer. I could only hope it fell out of someone's bag and the person didn't notice. I hated to imagine that someone deliberately threw it there.

We walked farther down the beach, picking up trash and the occasional seashell, which was now even more of a treasure. We made a lot of headway and decided it was time to head back.

In the distance, we saw Theresa coming toward us with huge handfuls of seashells. When she got closer, we saw that she, too, was carrying trash.

I was touched that, beyond the eye roll, she had heard me.

And I was so incredibly proud of both of them!