This weekend, more than 40 volunteers gathered at Myrtle Edwards park to remove marine bound debris from the breakwater. This debris often gets stuck in the large rock walls. While this area may look clean and free of debris from afar, up close, there are bottles pinned under rocks, styrofoam bits in the sand, tires washed up on the shore and much more. This hard to reach trash is usually left unnoticed unless a dedicated cleanup is held in the area.Â
All in all, we were able to remove 211 pounds of trash from the shores of the Puget Sound. Most of what we found this weekend was single use plastic (which has an average use time of 5 minutes but can stay in the environment forever). The 211 pounds of trash has been properly disposed of and will never end up in the ocean again.
Just before I started weighing the trash bags, I glanced at the harbor and saw a seal gazing right at me. Its head bobbed up and down, but it held my gaze for a few moments. I like to think it was offering a quick thank you for helping to protect its home. Moments like these remind us why we do what we do.
UBB would love to extend a big thank you to all of our volunteers that made this cleanup so special. Seattle has a great community of passionate people that are making an impact on the city they live in. I appreciated all of my conversations with you cant wait to bring UBB back to this incredible city sometime soon.
