Beachcombing

Our 7th annual April beach day at Hammonasset was wonderful. Nearly 25 of us hung out, played and enjoyed the crisp ocean breezes all afternoon. I bribed the kids to leave the beach with a promise of a stop at DQ! I always look forward to combing the beach in search of nature's treasures. This year was no exception. However, my finds broke my heart.

After walking less than half a mile down the beach, our trash bag was more than half full. I wanted to shout, "Really? We're not beyond littering? People really still do that?!!!" But nobody would have heard me as the waves rolled on and on.

Once my emotionalism had passed, I started to itemize what was in the trash bag. In addition to a month-old half-rotten flip flop (and this is on a state beach that gets routinely groomed) and more cigarette butts than I could count, the predominant items found on the beach were pieces of Dunkin Donuts coffee cups. Soooooo depressing to me. As we head into Earth Day, consider bringing your re-usable coffee cup when you buy your coffee at your favorite local coffee house. And if you do purchase coffee in a disposable container, I implore you to recycle the cardboard wrappers and iced coffee cups (most are 1s).