Yesterday morning at 6:00 a.m. I went for a run with my dog (on-leash) at a local beach. This beautiful beach on the Monterey Bay was covered in litter, a beach that is normally only littered in driftwood and washed up seaweed.

I ended up not running so much but grabbing trash that appeared headed for the water or that waves would shortly capture. Not what I call a fun run, but necessary to pick up after the tourists who decided not to bother picking up after themselves.

Tourism is a huge part of the local economy, approximately $700 million for Santa Cruz alone, but come on people, put the trash in a trash can!!! There are plenty of garbage cans at the beach.

Politicians everywhere are banning plastic bags, but how about the forced fee on paper bags go to education campaigns, more trash bins, and trash bin service instead?

According to Don’t Trash California: “…litter is more than ugly—it’s actually harmful to our waterways including lakes, rivers and beaches. Many people don’t know that litter and pollution from our freeways and highways can wind up in the storm drains. While the storm drains are meant to carry clean rainwater off the roads, any litter and debris that ends up in them can actually flow directly into public bodies of water. This means that the water we swim in, sail in and surf in can get more and more polluted with each piece of litter that is tossed onto the roadways.