On Saturday June 21, I had the opportunity to participate in a beach clean up with Marine Life Studies in partnership with The Cabrillo Host Lions Club, Aptos High School Leo Club and Soquel High School Leo Club. The event was held at Hidden Beach in Aptos. This was very special to me as I grew up body surfing and playing in the ocean at Hidden Beach. As I grew older, my friends and I would hang out at Hidden Beach and have bonfires in the evenings. We were always respectful of the environment and have never taken for granted the beauty of the beach and how lucky we are to live in this area. So to be able to go back and help clean the beach for others to enjoy was a no-brainer.
At first glance, it didn’t look like Hidden Beach needed a lot of cleaning up. However, I was shocked at the amount of trash we were able to collect in a short amount of time. It felt good to remove that trash before it ended up in the ocean but I’m afraid that we are just treating the symptoms but not addressing the actual problem. We need to teach our youth that it is not okay to leave your trash behind. As adults, we need to lead by example. We need to clean up after ourselves. We also need to pitch in and help clean up the trash that was left behind by others.
I encourage all of you to participate in a beach clean up at some point in time and help spread the word that it is not cool to leave your garbage behind. Remember, the best way to keep our beaches clean is to not trash them in the first place.
To find out how you can help or for more information about the Cabrillo Host Lions Club please visit: www.cabrillohostlions.org