Portland to Ocean Trashpedition

I came across the Portland to Ocean Trashpedition trailer via Facebook this week and it really got me thinking.

What Can I Do?

I’ve made the decision that every time I paddle now, I will do a litter sweep. When I land for lunch, a coffee break, to take photos etc, rather than simply being responsible for carrying out my own waste, I will do a sweep of the beach/shoreline around me and pick up anything I find.

If I’m out coaching or guiding, I will make a quick litter sweep part of the lunch stop process and encourage the clients to join in. This could help clear a slightly larger area and possibly help educate the clients/inspire them to do likewise next time they are out paddling.

Will this make a massive difference? Unlikely.

Will it make a small difference? Definitely.

And what if we all made the same commitment – everyone reading this post now.

Pledge to do a 5 minute litter sweep every time we paddle and encourage our paddling partners, clients, whoever to do the same? Would all of those small differences could grow and grow to make a bigger difference? Maybe. And at least we would have tried to do something.

Worth a thought eh?