I regularly volunteer to help clean up local lakes in the central Florida area. I try to go at least twice a month. The cleanups are usually held every Sunday afternoon and once a month there is a beach cleanup at Coco Beach. I've been doing these cleanups since 2004, after graduating from college. It was a way to help in the community and fill in some free time I acquired since I didn't have to study anymore.
The organization I do it with is Eco Action. There website and the lakes we cleanup are located at this site:
http://eco-action.net/id49.htm
The cleanups have up to 12 people volunteering. Each person gets into a one person canoe with 2 trash bags, grippers to pick up the trash and a long telescoping pole with a little hook to snag at items we can't reach. We paddle together along the lakes shoreline and pick up every piece of trash we can find. The most common trash is soda and beer cans, plastic bags, glass and plastic bottles, and the worst of them pieces of Styrofoam.
Styrofoam is the worst, because when it breaks up, it looks like little snail eggs and the local wildlife end up eating them. They can't digest them, so their bellies end up filling up with this stuff. They think they are full, so they stop eating and end up starving to death. Also, Styrofoam takes forever to biodegrade. So unless someone takes it out, it's going to be there a long time and continue to break up into little pieces to be eaten.
Another less common item of trash, but also deadly, is mono-filament. Before volunteering, I didn't know what mono-filament was. I soon learned it's the name given to fishing line that got snagged on a branch or other item, that the fishermen had no choice to or carelessly left behind. Animals, especially birds, will get caught up in the lines and need someone to set them loose, or else they'll die.
Sometimes as you are picking up trash, you end up striking up interesting conversations with fellow volunteers. Other times you get to spend some quiet time with nature. And sometimes people walking by will thank you for the great work you are doing.
For every trip, we take pictures at the end, of all the volunteers for that day and all the trash we collected. If the lake is especially polluted, each person will have filled up both trash bags, and accumulated other big items, such as tires, car batteries and even bicycles. Everyone helps pack up the canoes and tools and we say our goodbyes. Some of the same people return the next week or other weeks as well, while for others, it's a one time event.
I will try posting pictures for each one I attend and a little story about that day. So look for them in my charities category!
The organization I do it with is Eco Action. There website and the lakes we cleanup are located at this site:
http://eco-action.net/id49.htm
The cleanups have up to 12 people volunteering. Each person gets into a one person canoe with 2 trash bags, grippers to pick up the trash and a long telescoping pole with a little hook to snag at items we can't reach. We paddle together along the lakes shoreline and pick up every piece of trash we can find. The most common trash is soda and beer cans, plastic bags, glass and plastic bottles, and the worst of them pieces of Styrofoam.
Styrofoam is the worst, because when it breaks up, it looks like little snail eggs and the local wildlife end up eating them. They can't digest them, so their bellies end up filling up with this stuff. They think they are full, so they stop eating and end up starving to death. Also, Styrofoam takes forever to biodegrade. So unless someone takes it out, it's going to be there a long time and continue to break up into little pieces to be eaten.
Another less common item of trash, but also deadly, is mono-filament. Before volunteering, I didn't know what mono-filament was. I soon learned it's the name given to fishing line that got snagged on a branch or other item, that the fishermen had no choice to or carelessly left behind. Animals, especially birds, will get caught up in the lines and need someone to set them loose, or else they'll die.
Sometimes as you are picking up trash, you end up striking up interesting conversations with fellow volunteers. Other times you get to spend some quiet time with nature. And sometimes people walking by will thank you for the great work you are doing.
For every trip, we take pictures at the end, of all the volunteers for that day and all the trash we collected. If the lake is especially polluted, each person will have filled up both trash bags, and accumulated other big items, such as tires, car batteries and even bicycles. Everyone helps pack up the canoes and tools and we say our goodbyes. Some of the same people return the next week or other weeks as well, while for others, it's a one time event.
I will try posting pictures for each one I attend and a little story about that day. So look for them in my charities category!
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