Litter such as water bottles, plastic, and cigarettes strongly affect marine life. Sometimes sea turtles eat plastic waste and die, because the plastic can prevent those turtles from eating normally. Due to the high number of visitors that spend time at beaches, many leave bottles, plastic, and even glass all over the shore. During one of the beach cleanups I regularly attend, a fellow volunteer unfortunately stepped on broken glass. This accident strongly compelled me to start making a greater effort to protect marine environments immediately, because once these areas get more polluted, more marine animals and humans will face greater danger.

Throughout my experiences as a beach cleanup volunteer, I have collected up to 1.5 pounds of trash by the end of a day. Dog waste, plastic bottles, and leftover food make only a fraction of what these supposedly beautiful and clean beaches are covered with. Additionally, my involvements have taught me that protecting beaches is very crucial. As I continue to take part of an effort to help improve our planet and spread information of our environment’s state, I realize how much we, as students and citizens of our community, can save the earth. As members of an entire community, it should be our duty to educate those who pass through these beautiful ocean environments about picking up trash after themselves. The social benefits of beach cleanups include the fact that these activities can encourage more and more people to come to join the effort and reduce the amount of marine pollution. Decreasing marine pollution can help to directly result in more highly protected marine animals. Economic benefits are that if we can provide a clean beach to tourists, they will more greatly appreciate the travel spots and gradually increase revenue for the community. Overall, this is a positive cycle that starts with the individual―the individual who strives to make our world a more beautiful and sustainable place!