Before anybody comes at me, let me state that I do volunteer for beach cleanups! I don’t want to hear any shade about me when it comes to discussing pollution when I might just be cleaning up yours. So I’m not sure who exactly thinks it’s hot to throw wrappers, bottles, utensils, and cigarettes into the sand, but let me say it’s not. The beach is a multipurpose environment that welcomes everyone, but do you know what’s not welcoming to everyone? That list of trash I just said. 

It saddens me to see the beaches that I adore and grew up with become public dumpsters by locals and non-locals alike. When did we, as a society, stop caring about littering?  Recent events see people having discourse over the debate on paper vs. plastic straws, which, for the most part, I find funny. Most people don’t even need straws, to begin with. Last I checked, the majority of people have fully functioning mouths that can swallow. So, why the disagreement? Is it cool now to suck?

Alas, before I mention how everyone should be aware of how plastic straws directly harm our ecosystem, I’m going to just say nobody wants to dip their feet in trash, whether in the water or sand. I volunteer to clean up beaches because I want to enjoy a cleaner environment, and I hold a deep connection to it. The beach is where I usually go to heal from whatever challenges life faces me, but it makes it all the more difficult to do so when I can’t find a semi-decent place to heal at.

Pollution surrounds our densest metropolitans and even rural areas (believe it or not). I’ve seen it with my own eyes on the train from Chicago heading all through parts of Illinois and Michigan. Littering contaminates soil and water, harms wildlife, leaves physical hazards, and decreases standards for quality of life. If it wasn’t obvious, none of what was just listed is good.

So, not only does cleaning up the beach make the environment a better place, but I feel like a better person for doing it. Not in an entitled way (although I suppose I could gaslight people for it), but because it makes me feel like I’m doing something right for myself and society. So, when asked the purpose of this blog, it’s to raise an internal discourse for readers about how they want to view the environment that they live in. Do you want to embrace something trashy or something clean? I know my answer, and I hope you know yours.