We love the beach. It helps to quiet our minds and heal our souls. Yet, one day we were walking along the coast and a road of trash and plastic waste was laid out before us along the shoreline…
Neither of us said anything, but we were both thinking how sad it was. We quietly went along, stopping to pick up disposable masks and plastic water bottles with a stick we found and throwing them away. At one point, we saw three seagulls fighting over a plastic bag! (Don’t worry, we shooed them away from it and threw away the bag!)
Somewhere around that point, Shell said, “Hey, we should come to the beach once a month and pick up the trash.” We know that just one person can make a difference, especially after we just saved those seagulls’ lives. We thought coming down to the beach and doing this regularly could be fun!
We talked about it and thought about inviting some of our friends to join us. We wanted to have our own in-person beach clean-up with our friends, but we realized that had a lot of downsides. For one thing, many of our friends live too far away! We have friends in Ohio, Canada, Australia, Britain, Hawaii and even some friends in our state who are still too far away to join us. We also realized that with the pandemic, it probably wasn’t a good idea to bring so many people together in one place.
We looked into participating in local beach clean ups, but they were shut down due to the virus as well. It didn’t seem right that the environment should be neglected at this time, especially with how many disposable masks are littering the beach. There must be a way to clean the beaches safely.
Then we had an idea…
What if we went to the beach ourselves, and then we invited our friends to go somewhere local and pick up trash on the same day? That way, they can still join us wherever they are and the pandemic won’t be an issue. This is how we can all connect safely and help the environment together!
As we thought about it, we realized we didn’t have to limit this to our friends. What if… we put this on social media, and anyone can participate? How many people we can connect around the world to help heal the earth?
When we walked around that beach with plastic-eating seagulls and pulled disposable masks out the ocean, we kept thinking, “Someone needs to do something about this.” Then we realized, hey, we’re someone! We’re all someone! We can all do something! That was our final push to follow through with our idea and launch this. Everyone deserves an opportunity to help the world.
One person can make a difference. You can make a difference! Imagine what a difference we can all make if we work together around the world once a month. That is what inspired our virtual beach clean-up!
Welcome friends all over the world! Our very first virtual clean-up will be on
March 21, 2021!!!!!!
About Our Virtual Beach Clean-Up
We are so happy to see your interest in participating in our virtual beach clean-up! We and the environment thank you for joining us in our mission to unify the world in protecting nature.
You may have seen that we call it a “virtual” beach clean up and thought to yourself, “Well, how the heck does that work?!” It’s actually pretty simple!
The key is this website, email and social media.
This very blog post will provide you with the information you need to participate in our virtual beach clean-up. We recommend that you subscribe to our email list so we can notify you with reminders and tell you when there’s new information available. Our social media accounts also provide these updates and reminders!
Here’s how it works:
Have you noticed an area in your local community that has some trash? Maybe a beach, lake, river, field, neighborhood, or somewhere else in your local area has some rubbish compiling in it. The beauty of this cleanup being virtual is that you get to choose where you want to go! PLUS, you will get to see people all over the globe on this special day joining you in beautifying our world together!
If you love the beach, go pick up trash at your local coastline! Love the mountains? Great, I’m sure you can find a spot to clean up trash there too! Local parks are a great place to participate as well! Just find a spot in nature that you love where you feel you can make a difference.
You can most likely think of a spot in your favorite outdoor environment that could use some tender loving care. When there’s waste, especially plastic waste, in bodies of water or littered on the ground, it will eventually find its way to the ocean. That is a hazard to marine ecosystems and harms marine life. Did you know that the ocean will have more plastic in it by 2050 than fish? Yuck! We as humans have the power to change this and make a difference together!
Even if you live far away from a coastline, picking up trash in your area prevents it from meeting the shoreline. This means that even if you live far inland, you can still help to clean the beaches by preventing trash from ever getting there! That’s amazing!
This is why we call it a virtual beach clean-up: No matter where you live, you get to help clean earth’s coastlines.
We believe this can be a fun day for everyone as we all take pictures of our adventures around the world and share them with each other on social media. We will get to see a unity of kindness, and know we are not in this alone. One person picking up trash does make a difference. Imagine when we all do it together one day a month! We can build a global community and bond over helping to heal our environment. You can make a difference!
How does it work?
Pick where you want to go. Invite some friends to join you make it a fun project! Then, on the third Sunday of the month, bring the supplies mentioned below under the “What to bring” header and go to the spot you chose. Make sure to bring your phone and take lots of pictures! You can take pictures of the trash you cleaned up, the natural environment after you cleaned it, some silly selfies, or all of the above! The point is to get creative and have fun!
When you’re done, take your pictures and post them on social media (preferably Instagram or Twitter) using our hashtags. This is crucial if you want to participate in the global community. Post pictures with #jayandshellsvirtualbeachcleanup and #alohabeachhealing. Make sure to tag us too!
Then you can scroll through the hashtags and see all the people around the world who participated in this dynamic effort to unify the world in protecting nature. And who knows? Maybe you’ll even make some new friends who care about nature as much as you do! We hope to make some new friends along the way too.😉
We can’t wait to see all you beautiful souls!
Instructions for Instagram and Twitter:
Instagram:
If you are using Instagram, take pictures so you can post! They can be pictures of the trash you picked up, a pretty picture of the environment you’re in or some fun selfies! Tag us in the picture and the post so we can see you and your awesomeness. Most importantly, use the hashtags #jayandshellsvirtualbeachcleanup and #alohabeachhealing. You can also follow these hashtags to connect with the amazing clean-up community!
Twitter:
The beauty of Twitter is that you can tweet pictures or simply a fun statement. Use these hashtags #alohabeachhealing or #jayandshellsvirtualbeachcleanup so you can get involved with the global clean-up community! Tag us @shells_jay if you want us to retweet you!
What to bring
First and foremost: Bring a good attitude, positivity and fun!
In all seriousness, you will need a few supplies to have a successful beach cleanup.
You will need gloves and somewhere to put the trash you pick up.
If you want to be zero-waste, we recommend that you bring reusable gloves (e.g. garden gloves) and a reusable bucket or feed sack. We recognize that this may not be an option for everyone, but if you can do it then we highly recommend you bring these! It is the most environmentally friendly option. Here is the link to a bamboo-based pair of gardening gloves we found on Amazon. Make sure to check out our shop as we post more glove and bucket information!
If you don’t have a bucket or reusable gloves, that’s okay! Another option is to bring biodegradable trash bags and gloves. We personally use these plant-based trash bags at home. They have handles on them, which should make them pretty convenient to bring to your cleanup!
It’s important you know that it’s okay if you don’t have access to reusable or biodegradable materials. The point of this virtual cleanup is to be as accessible as possible to anyone who wants to participate. You’re still bringing trash out of the environment to dispose of it, and that’s what counts!
No matter what kinds of gloves or bucket/bag you use, you will still need to bring gloves to protect your hands from hazardous materials or sharp objects, a place to put the trash you collect, and a way to dispose of it properly.
How you dispose of the trash is up to you. You could keep it as simple as putting it in your trash can at home (and maybe asking to borrow a neighbor’s trash can depending how much you picked up!), or you could go all out by sorting through the trash and recycling. If you want to recycle, then you could put it in your recycling bin or bring it to your local recycling facility. Do whatever works for you!
You also need to dress appropriately for your environment! You will be outside, so plan accordingly. Do you need to bring sunscreen? A jacket? Boots or closed toe shoes? If you bring sunscreen, we implore you to consider buying reef-safe sunscreen. Some sunscreens are hazardous to coral reefs, which are a crucial marine ecosystem that harbor a bunch of sea life! Feel free to research a brand that works for you. We use TotLogic sunscreen which is biodegradable, reef safe, water resistant and hypoallergenic. Click here to look at it on Amazon. It’s also available in our shop!
Regardless of where you live, BRING WATER! Hydration is important, no matter where you live! The best option is to bring a reusable water bottle, but again, this is all about doing what you can.
Bring what is available to you!
Go forth and make waves!
We are extremely excited about this project and we hope you are too! This is so near and dear to our hearts, and we hope you will participate in our online adventure to connect the world in protecting nature. The beach helps our spirits and heals our souls, and we hope you will help us give back to these beautiful natural environments around the globe. We cannot wait to see you all online having fun protecting nature and giving back to Mother Earth!
This project is not about “just picking up trash,” it is about unifying humans globally to heal nature. This is our planet, and we get a say in what happens to it! Showing up to help heal the earth, no matter where you live, is the very first step to establishing a cleaner tomorrow.
We are so excited to see how many people join us globally. This is going to be so fun! Thank you for reading this; it shows your passion and commitment to do something about the waste in our world. We hope you join us for our very first virtual beach clean up March 21, 2021! We can’t wait to see you beautiful souls!
Aloha and gratitude,
Jay and Shell
You are responsible for yourself!
Disclaimer time: We are not responsible for you!
You are volunteering to go pick up trash in your local community and help the environment. That’s great! You know your area best: Use your common sense and good judgement! We are not responsible for you. We can provide some basic advice for informational purposes only, but we have no way to give you all the necessary safety equipment for your area or region. We are not liable for you or if you get hurt! Use the information you know about your local area to plan for your own safety and well-being. Use your own best judgement. We are simply encouraging people across the world to pick up trash. This is online for your own convenience, as well as ours. Use your knowledge of your area to plan ahead and ensure your own safety and well-being. Participate at your own free will, knowing your responsibility for yourself!
Best blog post yet! 💕 love you both so much!