Inspiration abounds on Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island after sunrise — Hilton Head Island just after sunrise.

If you read my post about my family’s weekend trip to Hilton Head Island last fall, then you already know how much we love the island. We recently returned from a week-long trip there, and inspiration was all around! Besides the natural beauty of the island and the gorgeous beaches, there are many environmentally conscious things I appreciate about Hilton Head Island.

My son sitting in the surf, looking out at the vast and beautiful ocean.

Plastic bag ban in Beaufort County, South Carolina

They implemented a plastic bag ban last fall, and I am here to tell you that from a tourist’s perspective, businesses have not been hurt by this. People were shopping in all the shops and supermarkets and the plastic bag ban did not seem to deter anyone from spending money. I have not found any studies on the result of this ban in the last 8 months, but I imagine the impact has been huge!

Unfortunately, I did find one article indicating that Target and Walmart are using supposedly “reusable” plastic bags. But since they are made of the same material as regular plastic bags, they defeat the whole purpose. I did not happen to shop at either store while there so I did not witness this first hand. As the article noted, that is disappointing.

At the other shops and stores I visited, I personally received only paper bags when I didn’t have my cloth bags with me. I love it! Can’t we do this everywhere?

Dunes with a palm tree. — Gorgeous dunes on HHI.

Wildlife

There’s a lot of cherished and protected wildlife on the island. We saw all types of birds, including pelicans – my favorite! We saw dolphins, tons of fish, and several types of crabs. There are also bald eagles, alligators, and turtles living on the island but we didn’t personally get to see those this time. The local government’s website educates on sustainable living, the types of local wildlife, native plants, biodiversity, ecosystems, and how everyone can help protect those things.

Pelicans flying in a line over the ocean near sunset.

Sea Turtle Conservation Efforts

Although we did not see sea turtles this trip, we saw at least 7 cordoned loggerhead sea turtle nest areas. They were marked with orange signs provided by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which alerts the public about the protection of this endangered species through federal and state laws.

Loggerhead sea turtle nest sign, cordoned and marked by the South Carolina department of Natural Resources. — Loggerhead sea turtle nest, cordoned by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

Three loggerhead turtle nests on the north end of the island (Port Royal area), cordoned off by the SC Department of Natural Resources. — Three loggerhead turtle nests on the north end of the island (Port Royal area). The SC Department of Natural Resources cordoned the nests.

Many Atlantic coast towns have laws, regulations, and organizations to protect sea turtle nests. On Hilton Head Island, lights on buildings and hotels cannot shine in the direction of the beach. People are only permitted to use red or “turtle-safe” flashlights on the beach between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. between May and October. They have a volunteer organization that patrols, monitors, and reports on sea turtle nests. They also clean up beach litter and plastics.

I read this article about a Kemp’s Ridley turtle making a nest on Hilton Head Island, a first-time event for the most endangered of all the sea turtle species! Wow!

The Coastal Discovery Museum has an “Adopt-a-Nest” Program, which not only sponsors the protection of a sea turtle nest but also supports the museum’s educational programs. Of course, this idea excited me so I absolutely adopted a nest while writing this post! They emailed me to let me know that my nest will be the 277th one this year and that they’ll keep me informed on the progress of my adopted nest.

Can I inspire you to adopt a nest as well? Just use the link above!

Baby sea turtles on the beach. — Photo by Skeeze on Pixabay.

Coastal Discovery Museum

The Coastal Discovery Museum on the island is a great non-profit and Smithsonian Affiliate, dedicated to educating and protecting the natural resources, history, and ecosystems of the region. Their mission “inspires people to care for the Lowcountry,” through their many programs, exhibits, talks, and tours. What a great organization.

We’ve visited several times in past years but this year we did a Dolphin and Nature Cruise with the museum and really enjoyed it. And yes, we did see dolphins! The museum docent provided a dolphin skull replica and spoke about the anatomy, diet, and lifestyle of the local dolphins. The captain provided a rich tour about the history and nature of the island. Both the captain and museum docent were very knowledgeable and kept the passengers engaged for the entirety of the cruise. They even let each of the kids drive the boat for a few minutes!

My son driving the boat on the Dolphin & Nature Cruise.

Beach Trash

Hilton Head Island’s beaches are very clean and well maintained. And there are both trash and recycling cans up and down the beach. Even so, I still picked up about 300 pieces of trash during my week there. Of course, I logged these through Litterati (see also my post on Litterati). My next post will be about the types of trash I found and what you can do to prevent beach trash and ocean pollution!

Thanks for reading, and please subscribe!

All photographs in this post were taken by me except where otherwise indicated.

May 8, 2019August 1, 2019

Book review: “100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth’s Most Endangered Species” by Jeff Corwin

“Every year, more than 20,000 species tragically disappear from our planet.”

If you’ve never heard of Jeff Corwin, I want to introduce you to him. For many years I thought he was just another popular tv show host but it turns out that he’s much more. He’s a biologist, wildlife conservationist, educator, advocate, and voice for endangered species across the planet.

This book caught my eye at the local used bookstore and I had to buy it. This is a very intelligible book for anyone and is meant for all audiences. It’s not written academically but it cites an immense amount of research and scientific studies. I honestly had a hard time putting it down even though it deals with subject matter that is depressing. But Corwin countered much of the sorrowful information with stories of progressive movements and hope. And all of it is so important for us to know.

The Title

The title comes from the most critically endangered species we are about to lose which have fewer than 100 individual living members left. All are direct consequences of the actions and behaviors of humans. Here, Jeff Corwin talks about the film and book:

I have not been able to find the companion documentary they referred to yet, but if I do I will update this post.

The Contents

Corwin explained the story of each species delicately yet methodically. I did read one review where Corwin was criticized for jumping around from one species to the next in different regions of the world. But one glance at the table of contents reveals that he was clearly dividing his book into thematic sections about the major human causes of endangered species. The sections were:

Global warming and habitat loss;
The introduction of non-native species, pollution, and disease;
The exploitation of animals for products and economy.

I will say that that same review applauded Corwin for his genuineness and for highlighting how we can motivate people around the world to change.

“If you’ve ever doubted that a small group of people can make a big difference in the face of a tide that seems inexorable, organizations like the WWF and the IRF are proof that such a change is possible.”

The Endangered Species list is vast

At the time this book was written, there were 16,928 endangered species in the world. I was hoping that that number had decreased since 2009, but I figured it probably increased at least slightly.

But I was devastated to discover that there are now 27,000 endangered species according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are generally accepted as the global authority on endangered species. Corwin cited the IUCN heavily in this book. If you’re not familiar with the IUCN, please check out this 3-minute video that will help you learn about them:

Corwin explained that there were 3,246 critically endangered species (the highest risk category for endangerment of extinction by the IUCN) in 2009. He wrote: “Whether we realize it or not, we need them…We’re inextricably bound with nature. When we put the survival of the natural world in jeopardy, we simultaneously put our survival in jeopardy.” We’ve harmed landscapes and habitats and entire ecosystems, and it’s going to hurt every species, ourselves included.

“We can’t fall back on letting nature take its course when we’ve changed the land and its inhabitants in ways that nature never intended.”

Habitat Destruction

I was surprised to learn that habitat destruction is the number one cause of species extinction worldwide. It makes sense – as the human population increases, human activities spread and drive the land to a state in which the land can no longer support the indigenous species. Urban sprawl, logging, mining, commercial fishing, homesteading are all culprits, but agriculture is the main source of habitat destruction.

Oil & Drilling

We all know oil spills are bad. When animals try to lick off oil from their fur or feathers, “the effect is toxic and can induce kidney failure.” They also rely on their fur or feathers for warmth, but when they’re coated in oil, the animal can freeze to death. “Unless they’re rescued – a monumental feat in remote regions – animals affected by oil spills typically die of hypothermia.” This makes me want to stop driving immediately. How do I stop supporting this global greed for oil? That’s a discussion for a future series of blog posts.

Gas pumps. Image by David ROUMANET from Pixabay. — Image by David ROUMANET from Pixabay.

Poaching, Slaughter & the Exotic Pet trade

Poaching is another major cause of species endangerment and extinction, although it is not always defined as just the slaughter of wild animals. It often includes animals captured for the exotic pets trade, for which there is a huge demand on the black market. Those animals are removed from their habitats, affecting the ecosystem. This reduces the populations in more ways than one – since they do not reproduce in that ecosystem, their numbers obviously decline further.

Slaughter for commercial profit is most visible from the slaughter of elephants and rhinoceroses. These large animals are killed for only one body part, the tusks or the horns. The rest of the animal is left to rot. National Geographic recently featured an informative article on poaching. My family and I recently visited the Nashville Zoo and I was impressed with their exhibits about critically endangered species. I took a photo of one about the rhinos because the image so shocked me that it moved me to tears:

Exhibit of a slaughtered rhino from the Nashville Zoo. Photo by me. — Exhibit from the Nashville Zoo. Photo by me.

We can do better, I know we can!

“While the dinosaurs disappeared as the result of a natural but catastrophic event, the current causes of extinction are largely the result of human behavior.”

African elephant. Image by Christine Sponchia from Pixabay.

Inspiration

Even though the book made me quite depressed about the state of species across the Earth, the book was very inspiring. It inspired me to feature this review of the book, to read more on the topics, and to write future posts on the subject. Corwin offered hope at every turn in the book and that is why I loved the book.

“We’re not powerless, though. As demonstrated by the success story of the American bald eagle, great strides can be made through compassion and dedication.”

Image by skeeze from Pixabay.

I found the dedication Corwin wrote to his daughters particularly inspiring. Here’s part of it:

“To my daughters…you are both so very precious to your mother and me; your optimism and trust, reflected through a lovely lens of innocence, inspires us…While at present the creatures who share Earth with us are in jeopardy, I have faith that my generation will make things right so you and your children will have the opportunity to thrive upon a rich, healthy, and diverse planet. We will not fail you.“

That’s beautiful, and it’s exactly how I feel about my own child. My son is precious to me and I do not want to leave a devastated planet behind for him to deal with. I want to be part of the change!

I will not fail him.

This post does not contain any affiliate links.

April 22, 2019May 7, 2020

Happy Earth Day! But every day should be Earth Day…

Illustration of the Earth — Photo by Pixabay from Pexels.

Happy Earth Day!

Established in 1970, Earth Day celebrates 49 years this year. Next year will be a huge anniversary! The first Earth Day “led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.” You can read the full history of Earth Day at earthday.org.

April 22 marks Earth Day every year. It’s an important day to recognize our beautiful planet, but many of us believe Earth Day should be Every Day. We can make a difference every day. We can be the change. We can participate in daily practices that are small but add up when many of us do them! Follow my blog to learn about changes you can make. Additionally, Earthday.org provided this list of actions, and the good news is a great many of them are small and simple but have a big impact.

How do you celebrate Earth Day?

Earth Day is a day of education and support for protecting the environment, preventing pollution, preserving and protecting all species, curbing climate change. The first thing you can do is commit to change. Pick one change and start there. Refuse plastic, start composting, drive less. There are hundreds of things you can do! Here are ways you can change your habits around food and here are 100 steps to a Plastic-Free life. I’ve also got a recommended list of books.

The next thing you can do is educate yourself, and then others! Many people have no idea about plastic pollution in our oceans. I doubt everyone knows how many species are now classified as endangered. Many believe recycling is enough but it isn’t. Some still believe global warming is a farce.

Once you’re aware of what’s going on, there’s no turning back. Your conscience will help guide you. Your knowledge will help you guide others.

Homeschool Lesson for Earth Day

There are so many ideas on the internet and on Pinterest especially for homeschool lessons on Earth Day, the environment and pollution, and endangered species. I wrote about a lesson on pollution and the environment that I did with my son a while back, but I also did special lessons about Earth Day when he was preschool age. Children will understand why we want to protect our world by learning simple things that explain what the Earth is, what the Earth looks like, and about all the animals, birds, ocean creatures, and humans that inhabit this great planet.

We did an easy puzzle of the Earth, coloring sheets of the planet, tracing activities, and counting games using the Earth as a theme. I found all of them as free printables on the internet from sources like teacherspayteachers.com and blogs like this that I found through Pinterest.

We made a paper mache globe based on a blog post from Housing a Forest. Here’s what ours looked like (my son was only 3 at the time):

My son painting our paper mache Earth. Photo by me.

The "completed" version of our paper mache Earth. — The “completed” version of our paper mache Earth. Photo by me.

We also read books about the environment and protecting our world, like the one below, which teaches that we need to take care of our Earth every day. You can find many other recommended books on my Children’s Book page.

But even if you don’t have children, you can still help people understand when the topics come up in conversation. And those conversations will come up. Won’t you be excited to share your knowledge?

What else can you do?

So. Many. Things.

You can plant trees (maybe even hug them!), clean up litter (join the Litterati!), join an environmentally conscience community organization, refuse disposable products, grow a garden at home or in your community, take the bus or ride a bicycle to work, eat healthier foods that aren’t processed or sold in wasteful packaging, strive for zero waste, donate to back an educational project or school program, go minimalist, donate to help protect a species, etc. Just pick something that speaks to you and do it.

Love the Earth. Then help spread that love.

You can also subscribe to my blog to learn more with me as I continue my journey!

January 30, 2019August 1, 2019

The end of single-use plastics in the European Union!

Globe showing Europe. Photo by Tom Grimbert on Unsplash. — Photo by Tom Grimbert on Unsplash.

This is exciting news!

Have you heard that the European Union has passed landmark legislation that will ban single-use plastics like straws and forks and plates beginning in 2021? This is going to have a major impact worldwide!

According to a Forbes article, “the aim of the directive, which is part of the European Plastics Strategy, is to protect the environment and reduce marine litter by avoiding the emission of 3.4 million tonnes of CO2.” But it will also avoid an estimated $24.9 billion in environmental damages by 2030.

Plastic is harmful to all life forms

Globally, plastics make up 85% of marine litter according to the European Commission. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund) reported that plastics account for 95% in the Mediterranean Sea. “And plastics are even reaching people’s lungs and dinner tables, with micro-plastics in the air, water and food having an unknown impact on their health.” It’s going through the entire food chain.

Illustration of clean vs. polluted ocean. Photo by Wild0ne on Pixabay, — Photo by Wild0ne on Pixabay,

Plastic production has increased exponentially since 1960, with the current global production of 322 million tons. That is expected to double in the next 20 years! Perhaps actions and legislation like this will reverse this growth and waste.

If you read my post about plastic straws, then you know that they are causing environmental problems along with many other single-use disposable plastics. Besides the sheer amount of waste, plastics are harming marine life and posing risks to human health.

Plastic waste and fishing waste are affecting our birds and marine life. Photo by A_Different_Perspective on Pixabay.

Here are some facts from the WWF report on how marine life is harmed by human use of plastics:

Animals mistake plastics for foods.
Plastic releases up to 30 times more contaminants when it is present in body tissue like the intestines. Those contaminants can cause liver damage or hormones disruption.
Today 90% of seabirds have plastic fragments in their stomachs.
Over 90% of the damage caused to marine wildlife by human waste is due to plastics.
Globally, there are about 700 marine species threatened by plastics, some of which are endangered species.
Worldwide, 344 species have been found trapped in plastics! This can be fatal either from drowning or from becoming easy prey.
Plastics can cause injuries and deformities.
In general, all the fishing gear that is abandoned, lost or discarded at sea (lines, nets, traps) causes damage to wildlife, trapping and killing fish and other marine animals – a phenomenon known as “ghost fishing”.
Plastics have also infiltrated the world of the microscopic. Zooplankton (the small organisms at the base of the marine food chain) involuntarily feed on plastic fragments smaller than 1mm. These fragments can contain toxic substances: by ingesting them the zooplankton transmit them up the food chain, all the way to humans.

The Blue Planet

If you love the Earth’s oceans, you’ll enjoy The Blue Planet series. In 2017, Blue Planet II was released and features the hazards of plastics on marine life. In the video below, David Attenborough, the writer and narrator of many BBC natural history documentaries, said he hoped that Blue Planet II would “open people’s eyes to the damage we are doing to our oceans.” I’m sure their contributions have helped!

Both The Blue Planet and Blue Planet II are available on Netflix.

Leading the Way

“Single-use plastics are not a smart economic or environmental choice,” said Vice-President Jyrki Katainen of the European Commission. “This is an opportunity for Europe to lead the way, creating products that the world will demand for decades to come, and extracting more economic value from our precious and limited resources.” It’s so refreshing to see leaders in the world making plastic waste reduction a priority!

Plastic waste on a beach. We can stop this from happening! Photo by hhach on Pixabay.

Companies will listen to you

Here in the United States, know that you can take action too. Companies follow supply and demand. So if many people are demanding a company to use less plastic or provide reusable containers, the company will listen! Write, call, or email the companies you purchase from and ask that they use less disposable plastic packaging.

Recently, a few large companies including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Pepsi, and Nestlé are introducing reusable packaging for certain products in an attempt to phase out single-use plastics. This is also for public relations because they don’t want to be viewed as giant contributors to the pollution problem. Better late than never, I guess. But this shows that they’re listening to us (or at least watching their sales)!

In a press release just last week, Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced “the introduction of reusable, refillable packaging on some of its most popular products as part of a new effort that aims to change the world’s reliance on single-use packaging and disposable waste.”

P&G has formed a partnership with Loop, a company that ships products in reusable aluminum containers that you ship back for reuse. Loop was developed by Terracycle. Sounds cool, right? It’s launching in Spring of 2019, and you have to “Reserve your spot in line” on Loop’s website. So it won’t necessarily be available to everyone and it won’t be available at the store you where you shop. It’s still a start. I signed up and I fully plan to review it so you can know more about it!

Refuse single-use disposable plastic! Photo by Elijah O'Donnell on Unsplash. — Refuse single-use disposable plastic! Photo by Elijah O’Donnell on Unsplash.

What You Can Do!

The best thing you can always do is this: REFUSE plastic containers. I have stopped buying 90% of the items I used to because they only come in plastic containers. And my life is pretty much the same. Once in a while, I really have to search for a product in glass or metal, but it’s just become the norm for me. You can do this too!

There’s got to be more change – we can do it! What are you currently doing to reduce or refuse plastic? Leave me a comment below!

As always, thank you for reading.