Decisions and Research.

I think I've pretty much decided to go with the cigarette butt beach clean-up idea. I am attempting to get some information for that, but currently, any archived articles in the Press of Atlantic City that deal with the information would cost me $3 per article.

I've emailed an HR person at the Press and explained my project as well as the information I'm seeking, so we'll see if they get back to me.

In the mean time, I've been trying to pull what I can from various searches. I found some information about beaches in Sandy Hook, NJ, which is north of where I live.

"Clean Ocean Action, the environmental group that has been doing beach sweeps for 25 years, says in a report to be released Tuesday that an all-time high of 475,321 pieces of litter were removed from the state’s 127-mile shoreline last year. The 8,372 people who participated in spring and fall cleanups also set a record.

Plastics accounted for nearly three-quarters of the debris plucked from the beaches, with plastic caps or lids topping the list at 61,895. Miscellaneous bits and pieces of plastic were next at 51,249 items, followed by cigarette filters (an all-time high of 45,903), food wrappers or bags (43,113), straws or coffee stirrers (39,029), foam pieces (22,099), and bottles (18,212). Wood and lumber accounted for 10,384 items, followed closely by cigar tips (10,328) and shopping bags (8,619)." ( Article link)

So cigarette butts (filters) and cigar tips alone numbered over 56,000 pieces of litter that we collected by Clean Ocean Action last April. That's disgusting. That's about 443 cigarette butts/cigar tips for every mile of shoreline in the 127 mile long stretch!!

I've also contacted the group, Clean Ocean Action to see if they would like to partner with me on an awareness campaign, or if they need any graphic design support for their current campaigns. So we'll see where I go with this.