The staff of LbE Hawaii explains how a simple cleanup on our streets could protect our ocean. For Earth Month, LbE Hawaii organized a street cleanup in the Kaka'ako District area of Honolulu, Hawaii as part of the Adopt a Block initiative of the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Facility Maintenance Storm Water Quality Division.
With a small group of 10 volunteers, team LbE managed to collect over 27 pounds of trash in less than 2 hours. This trash could have made its trip into the city's storm drains, directly into the ocean, potentially affecting the ocean's ecosystem. Picture it - how many cigarette butts have you seen along any given street? Imagine these cigarette butts making its way into the ocean after rainfall. How do you think these toxic pieces would affect marine life?
Protecting our ocean begins with us, individually. Whether there is an organized street cleanup event or not, we can all do our part in picking up trash that we see.