A Positive Litter Story

 Added to June 29, 2019
Jun 292019
 

Life becomes art, and so I document things… I work by the beach, and during my lunch breaks I walk the waves and pick up litter. Something happened to me that really gave me hope for the future.

I leaned over and picked up a piece of plastic. Then a bottle cap. In doing so I noticed a little boy watching me. I kept doing my thing. Later I felt a tap on my back and turned around. “Here is some garbage I just found”, said the little boy excitedly. I let him put it in my bag. He then came running back with more. I thanked him and felt such joy. Overwhelming joy. Someone not only noticed me, but mimicked me.

Death Of A Century Plant

 Added to June 23, 2019
Jun 232019
 

Today I got some really sad news… Months ago I fell in love with a plant at the beach. I drove by it multiple times per day, multiple days per week, and it brought me such joy and wonder. I watched it grow, flower, but then today I drove by to find it split in half.

The Agave Americana is an aloe-like cactus-looking plant with what seem to be alien tentacles sticking out in every direction. It is more commonly called the “Century Plant” for a really interesting reason. After about 10 to 30 years, the plant quickly sprouts a long stalk into the air. It looks like a comical gigantic 25-foot piece of asparagus (yum, asparagus). This then opens up at the top with hundreds of little yellow flowers. A really beautiful arrangement.

The crazy part is that this is now the end of it’s life. The plant waits 10, 20, 30 years then quickly sends up its flowers, only to then die… I waited months watching this beautiful plant. I planned to photograph it once all the flowers bloomed. It was getting so close, maybe just a few more days – but then we had a big storm. The storm ended this plants life before it could flower and end itself.

Stupid Collections

 Added to June 9, 2019
Jun 092019
 

I have a bad habit of collecting stupid things for years and years only to eventually get rid of them. I think the artist in me thinks that someday I will come up with some amazing idea for said things. Like these beer bottle tops I threw in a jar for about 10 years… I put these on eBay to see if anyone would buy them. Yep. Sold for 5 dollars.

Beach Litter

 Added to June 3, 2019
Jun 032019
 

This image shows just eight days at Folly Beach, SC. Each day I can fill one bucket, or more. As you would expect, a lot of the trash is just ignorant people tossing a cig on the ground, leaving fast food beside the car, or throwing an empty beer into the bushes. However, I also believe that much of it is accidental. The wind takes a wrapper away, a child opens candy or rips the tag off a new toy. I get it, but it all adds up.

How can we do better? I honestly don’t know. We cannot close off the beach. We need public access to the beach. That’s important. We also cannot just make higher fines because this is a quiet crime that no police officer will notice, or maybe care to pursue… I believe much of the issue here (and which much of our country’s downfalls) can be solved with better education and outreach. We need to better educate people on the environment, the amazing creatures on the land and in the sea, and the importance of doing our part for a better future… We need to do better.

The Dreaming State