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Crap on the beach

Smiling JOe avatar
Smiling JOeSoWal Expert
29,326 views
Here is my warning again to all of you who may not know about it. Leave your crap on the beach overnight, and it may be gone when you come back the next day. If I don't take it, the storms may. This morning while kayaking in the Gulf, I collected floating bottles, a play tug boat,a boogy board and two beach chairs, and can you believe the owners were screaming at me that the chairs belonged to them, though they wouldn't come in the water to get them because they didn't like the seaweed? It didn't make for too exciting of a kayak experience this morning. I made them promise to take their crap off the beach everyday in exchange for the chairs. There were tents in the water this morning, crumbled tent frames and tops on the beach, etc. It really sucks that some people do not have the courtesy to remove their crap daily.

Warning: You can take it off the beach, or I will. I am tired of it. Now get a move on before I decide to open a can of whoop-@ss on you rude, inconsiderate people.

Replies

225
dbuck avatar
dbuckBeach Fanatic
#127
Ok, you have my permission to toss it.
SHELLY avatar
SHELLYSoWal Insider
#128
The upside-down tent, pictured above, has been in this same position for the last three days. Who is supposed to clean it up? The owners? -- yeah, right. :floor:

The owners are back "up north" packing the kiddies lunch for school tomorrow.

SJ: Do you remember a time when we didn't have all this "junk" on our beaches? It seems like so long ago--but I do remember when this wasn't an issue (or was that a dream?). :idontno:
shakennotstirred avatar
shakennotstirredBeach Fanatic
#129
So someone please tell me when this becomes garbage. For the last few days, I have been giving some of you the benefit of the doubt, but now I am just trying to prove my point. The upside-down tent, pictured above, has been in this same position for the last three days. Who is supposed to clean it up? The owners? -- yeah, right. :floor:

I can understand how some visitors may not be aware of the rules prohibiting leaving crap on the beach overnight but this instance is someone just being plain lazy. I can see where this is frustrating to a local. It is a shame that someone has to clean up after these losers.
Smiling JOe avatar
Smiling JOeSoWal ExpertAuthor
#130
I have a five dollar bill that says that particular tent is still on the beach this morning, and that tent will not be alone.
Smiling JOe avatar
Smiling JOeSoWal ExpertAuthor
#132
Ok, you have my permission to toss it.
Thanks, but another point of mine is, should I have to ask permission? And who has the aurthority to answer?

dbuck, I was thinking about the advice you gave to your kids, about not taking stuff which isn't theirs. Great teaching, but I do wonder who will be left keeping the world looking beautiful, by cleaning up others' crap. Just goes to show that a well-intended belief, doesn't have to apply universally. ;-)
dsilvar avatar
dsilvarBeach Fanatic
#133
..the advice you gave to your kids, about not taking stuff which isn't theirs. Great teaching..
The definition of "junk"....stuff that has been abandoned by the owner. Without ownership the "stuff" becomes garbage in the public domain.
No pilfering here..just social awarness. No permission needed.
Bobby J avatar
Bobby JBeach Fanatic
#134
I blame Walmart for selling this junk soooo cheap! :lol:
dbuck avatar
dbuckBeach Fanatic
#135
Thanks, but another point of mine is, should I have to ask permission? And who has the aurthority to answer?

dbuck, I was thinking about the advice you gave to your kids, about not taking stuff which isn't theirs. Great teaching, but I do wonder who will be left keeping the world looking beautiful, by cleaning up others' crap. Just goes to show that a well-intended belief, doesn't have to apply universally. ;-)
SJ, BREATHE, we can only do so much in this world, and we have to do the things for which we feel the most passion. Litter is not a new item on the agenda. We have to do our part and the part for one other person, because we KNOW that it makes no difference to some, we can't change that, we can only educate people. Before I found this site, I was totally ignorant on the proper care for dunes, but now I know, so education does help. We really are ALL in this together.
But, I have to totally disagree with you on the well-intended belief statement. Honestly, you don't want to get me started on "justified behavior." Just because a person feels justified doing something, doesn't make it right, I could write a book on this, but it does make fascinating discussion. You are a wonderful person, I can tell. Just continue what you are doing by educating and by setting a good example, that really does change the world, one person at a time.
Smiling JOe avatar
Smiling JOeSoWal ExpertAuthor
#136
Thanks for the kind words, dbuck.

FYI to all of you who have hairs raised on your backs about me stating that I will remove items left on the beach -- relax a little bit, but only a little bit. I am serious, but if I were truly evil, you wouldn't see the kayak, umbrellas, tents, chairs, etc behind the abondoned tent in my above photo, because they have left their crap out overnight, every night, since they arrived. My goal is to educate, and if it takes stirring up some thoughts in your heads, so be it. If that doesn't work, I may have to resort to relocating all of your crap to the steps of the Courthouse, where you can collect it. That would make a statement. I bet that I could block all the entrances to the building with cheap beach crap -- every day. :blink:
kathydwells avatar
kathydwellsDarlene is my middle name, not my nickname
#137
SJ, I am with you on the removal of the crap. It is such an eyesore to see all that stuff when you get up early in the morning and go down to the beach. I alway's think of all the sea turtles that might have had to maneuver around all that SHI** just to find a place to lay her eggs. It is so sad to me.
Smiling JOe avatar
Smiling JOeSoWal ExpertAuthor
#138
SJ, I am with you on the removal of the crap. It is such an eyesore to see all that stuff when you get up early in the morning and go down to the beach. I alway's think of all the sea turtles that might have had to maneuver around all that SHI** just to find a place to lay her eggs. It is so sad to me.

I understand what you are saying about the crap being an eyesore, however, that part I could care less about. The part I am concerned is that, when abandoned, the crap often becomes partially buried, potentially being a hazard to people walking on the beach. I find tent stakes, and rusted metal pieces of chairs on occasion. Once a tent canvas is burried, it is nearly impossible to remove by hand. Ask Sunshine. I have seen her tugging without success on the same canopy which I tried to remove days prior. Note, when left overnight, or even unattended in the day time, which I see often, wind will pick up the tents and send them flying. 😱 Look out kids!!! The owners probably never find them when they are submerged in the lake or hidden in the dunes.

My other reasons for objecting are that they items are dangerous when walking on the beach after sunset, just like the holes which people are digging without filling back in. When the day comes that I twist my ankle from stepping in one of these, look out! I will be mad. I have fallen in the craters before, and I can tell you, that had people done the right thing, that wouldn't have happened. I am in good physical health, but what about those beach-goers who are not? In addition to the items and holes being hazardous to people, they also obstruct the Sea Turtles from nesting on the beaches. One canopy may have up to 12 string with anchors holding it in place. How would you like to be a turtle, on land, tangled up in crap or stuck in a big-@ss hole?

So, my objections are not based on the looks of the crap, but rather, they are based on the effects the crap has on the environment and the people.
Rita avatar
Ritamargarita brocolia
#139
The definition of "junk"....stuff that has been abandoned by the owner. Without ownership the "stuff" becomes garbage in the public domain.
No pilfering here..just social awarness. No permission needed.
:clap_1: There ya go!
.
Miss Kitty avatar
Miss KittyMeow
#140
How about printing some tags and attaching them to items you see left on the beach? I will leave it up to you what the tags would say. I imagine we could all come up with something educational and insulting at the same time!

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