Nature Inspiration at the Harbor

Posted on March 27, 2019 by coonsse

My connection to nature goes back very far. As long as I can remember I have been in love with all the green spaces around me. I always loved exploring the beach, going hiking, going camping, going out on the boat or on my kayak or anything that got me outside. I was the kid who would be outside digging in the dirt catching bugs, worms, frogs and lizards just to watch them exist. My connection to nature has changed over time in the way that when I was growing up, it was more of a innocent curiosity. Now, I want to make a career interacting with and learning about all different types of animals, plants and insects. I want to spend my life learning about what makes our planet special and helping others understand it’s beauty too. There is so much life on this planet we might not even know about and that’s what excites me about being alive is knowing that there is so much I get to learn about. I think that is important to have a connection with nature because nature is what keeps us alive. We eat food that comes from nature, whether it be plant or animal based, we build houses from nature, we essentially get everything we need to survive from nature. We need a connection to understand how to take care of nature so we can have these resources that we use every day for years to come.

To reflect on how connected to nature I am, I went down to the Aquarium and there is a small park nearby called The Charlotte Street Park. It is a beautiful park overlooking the harbor. I chose this place because I feel most connected to nature when I am on the water. I love anything to do with the ocean or rivers or lakes. There is something about the mystery and the creatures that lie beneath the surface that fascinates me and excites me at the same time. It makes me realize how small humans are in the scope of every living creature on the planet and how much more I have to learn about what lives on Earth. While I was there, I thought about a lot of things. Every time I enjoy some time near or on the water, I always think about how we don’t know whats under the surface. Of course we know what COULD be there right now, but we don’t know what is right there, right now. I love that mystery. I also began to think about how much trash must be in the beautiful harbor and this thought saddened me. I saw a chip bag floating in the water. It is crazy to me to think that people care so little about something so beautiful. There is a wealth of life under the ocean and we have yet to discover it. This reminds me about how much life has to give you as long as you go out there and get it. I do know we weren’t supposed to be on our phones, but it was so beautiful out I had to take a few pictures over the harbor.

My Insightful Trash Pickup

Posted on February 20, 2019 by coonsse

For my citizen science project, I decided to do a cleanup! I chose to walk the entirety of the battery and observe and collect the trash that would be there. I thought this would be impactful because I volunteer at the Aquarium and every time I go, I see firsthand the impact that trash has on our oceans and the marine life that calls it home. We live right on the ocean so, for me, it’s important to keep our city clean. My initial assumption was that there would be a lot of garbage at the Battery because it is frequented by lots of tourists and college students. What I found was quite different and it really surprised me. There was a clear shift in types and amount of trash as I walked from the Battery all the way to Wentworth street.

At the Battery, I found 23 cigarette butts, a cigar wrapper, a loose pieces of plastic and some napkins. What was more interesting for me was my walk back to my dorm. I am an Resident Assistant (RA) in McConnell hall which is located on the corner of Coming and Wentworth Streets. As I was walking home, the closer I got to the campus, the worse the litter. The types of litter changed as well. At the Battery, it was mainly small pieces of litter such as cigarette butts and small pieces of plastic. The litter was also spread out along a long stretch of pathway, but when I got to the side of McConnell Hall, many pieces of trash were clustered in a small stretch of land. As I walked from the beginning of Coming street to the corner of Wentworth (map provided below) I found: 31 cigarette butts, a Chick Fil A bag with trash inside (two sauce packs, a sandwich bag and a French fry container), two beer cans, metal “Whip-It” containers, a Juul pod, a FunDip candy wrapper, a child’s toy, a plastic tooth pick, a plastic spoon, a soda can, a packing peanut, a piece of plastic rope and several unidentifiable pieces of plastic. This is FAR more than I found walking along the Battery. I found this interesting because there are two pretty different demographics that spend time in these places. At the Battery, there are many tourists and homeowners walking along the water and closer to the campus it is filled with college kids running from class to class. I expected a place that has such heavy traffic, such as the battery, to be filled with litter, but this was not what I found. This could be due to a cleaning crew that comes through and cleans every so often, but at this time I could not find anything on a Charleston website that confirms this. It also could be a general feeling of wanting to keep that green area clean. A feeling of pride for the city. The garbage that was found on the small stretch of road near McConnell hall was very indicative to stereotypical college life. There were beer cans, soda cans, Juul pods and things of that nature. The most interesting thing to me about this cleanup was walking through the streets of Charleston and watching the types and amount of trash change from place to place. We keep the green areas clean but we don’t seem to care as much when it comes to the residential areas.

While reflecting on what I collected, I decided to find out the impacts of the piece of trash I found the most of: cigarette butts. After reading a few articles (that I will link and cite at the end of this post), I found out a few interesting yet scary facts about cigarette butt litter. It was found that cigarette butts are the number one most commonly collected trash item on beaches around the world (Novotny). We put so much emphasis on other types of plastics, such as straws, that it seems we don’t think of something that millions of people use every day, multiple times a day, and throw away. The plastics in cigarette butts are also non-biodegradable. These plastics are toxic and account for roughly 1.68 billion pounds of waste each year and only 38% of littered butts biodegrade after two years (Truth Initiative).

In summary, my initial trash walk was not as successful as I thought it would be, but I discovered something a little more interesting on the way back to campus. I got to see where the trash becomes heavier throughout Charleston. It went from sparse near the Battery to condensed near campus. It is so important to keep cities clean because our trash has a wider impact on the world as a whole. Even something as small as the butt of a cigarette can leave lasting impacts on the planet we call home!

Novotny, Thomas E et al. “Cigarettes butts and the case for an environmental policy on hazardous cigarette waste” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 6,5 (2009): 1691-705.

Truth Initiative. “5 Ways Cigarette Litter Impacts the Environment.” Truth Initiative, Truth Initiative, 9 Apr. 2018, truthinitiative.org/news/5-ways-cigarette-litter-impacts-environment.

Here are some of the pieces I collected right where I found them on my long walk.