Today is the 25th Annual International Coastal Cleanup. So the four of us in our family headed down to our favorite beach area (which is in Daytona Beach Shores), to help do a cleanup.

The yearly event, sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy, gets people out all over the world picking up garbage along coastal areas. And it is amazing what you can find along these areas. There is so much trash and man-made debris!

We spent 1.5 hours picking up what amounted to around 15 pounds of garbage! Just what was littering the beach? Too much stuff, including: 

- Loads of cigarrette butts
- Lots of plastic pieces in every shape, size and color
- Fast food wrappers, straws, plastic utensils, etc.
- Loads of plastic bottle caps from all different types of bottles
- Items like razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, old decaying shoes, a shotgun shell case, a brake fluid container, a balloon from a restaurant over in Orlando, and so much more!

Whether you live within minutes of a coastal area like we do, or you many miles away, we need to do our part to help keep coastal areas clean. All of this debris that was removed today around the world helps to protect our oceans and the animals that inhabit them. Many of the items we collected could be eaten by sea animals, as they think it is food in the water, and all of it would end up floating around one of the many garbage patches that are out in our oceans. In the end, it all pollutes our environment.

This morning there were quite a few people in our half a mile area visiting the beach. Only about six who were contributing to the beach cleaning. We need to flip that!

It doesn't have to be a coastal cleanup day to stop and pick up trash on the beach when you see it. Every day is a good day to pick it up and put it where it properly goes. Thank you to all who helped today to do the coastal cleanup. And thank you to all who help to keep the beach clean throughout the whole year.