vladdie

Hi all,
My husband and I are going to Maui this spring and I found a super ecology website, www.pacificwhale.org (the same people who also offer boat tours..good cause for your tourist dollars) and they have an option where you can pick up your own "beach cleanup kit" and you can pick a beach or two and go do something nice for the environment, even for just an hour or two out of your day, and clean up some beach trash. A clean beach is a nice beach and the ocean and beach critters would thank you too. The foundation even gives you a t-shirt, "Volunteering on Vacation" and they have tons of other options for volunteering for those who would like to do something nice for the island ecology while on vacation. Just wanted to let you know. My husband and I will be picking up a beach clean up kit for each of us while on Maui. You can go to the website www.pacificwhale.org and click on the "Get Involved" link. Aloha!

cawhite

What a great idea for giving back to the community one goes to visit... thanks for the information.

kauai_aka

good for you. they also sponsor whale count, which we do here on kauai every nov. you can also volunteer to babysit honu or monk seal. have fun.

TahitiTams

That's great vladdie!
Wish more people were like you and your husband..
We would have a cleaner planet and we would all feel better about ourselves..
I try and pick up trash wherever I go..
It doesn't take much or if you see something that could make a difference..
Where I live the seagulls are rampant and the open trash cans without the seagall proof tops were along our cliffs and here people were trying to do the right thing with disposing of their trash in the cans but the 'skyrats' would take trash and strewn it all over the coastline of La Jolla..
From the tourists to the locals that would witness this, it seemed like no one was doing anything about it until I decicded enough of this trash..
Called the Mayor and my Councilman and of course the media and it was rectified that week!
All the trash cans have 'seagull proof' plastic tops that they cannot get in and make a huge mess!
Love that..

JennaJ

Thanks for the info! Hubby and I are going in March and would love to help out. I will check out the website now.

vladdie

Thanks for the replies everyone and it is good to see that others are interested too! Yes, I would LOVE to babysit monkseals or turtle mothers on the beaches but I am not sure if I will be in Maui during the right time of year, but I will want to check in on that also and ask the foundation about it.
Jenna, let me know if you do that beach clean up when you and your hubby go, super!
Yes, I agree with you Tahiti, I have been on vacation with my husband several times and found trash on a trail or river, etc, and wished I had a plastic bag to put it in! We need to start taking a fold up plastic bag in our backpack when we go out adventuring eh? Glad people like the idea of beach clean up, and Jenna, or anyone else who might do a beach clean up morning or afternoon, remember if you see a plastic bag floating in the surf, those things are mistaken by turtles for jellyfish, which they eat, and the turtles choke on the plastic. If I find a single plastic bag in the water, I will be happy that I did something to prevent a turtle choking!
Thanks everyone for the replies!
Vlad

vladdie

By the way, TahitiTams, hats off to you for instigating the new trash lids for your beach! If anyone ever says, "A single person can't change things", then you proved them wrong, didn't you! Bravo!

suspire

What a great idea! I'm headed to Maui in a couple months and definitely will volunteer. Thanks for the tip!

Also, for those looking for alternatives to plastic bags and other such things, my favorite website/store is www.reusablebags.com. So much fun stuff! I'll be bringing my own reusable bags on my trip, so I don't have to use plastic bags, even on vacation!

dmlove

I like that idea, too. I remember picking up trash on a walk in Yosemite in the early 80s. Just carried an armful until we reached a proper trash can.