Here in the Wisconsin, Spring is finally starting to make it's way back into our lives. I will be the first to tell you, I could not be more excited. I thrive off of rising temperatures and sunshine, it makes me a much better human. It seems that any day in which the sun makes an appearance and the temps hit 45 degrees or above everyone makes there way outdoors. After being cooped up all winter, everyone is super excited to be able to get out, soak up a little bit of vitamin D and spend some time in nature. One of the best places to do this? The beach of course.

Well, it's the time of year that our beach needs a little extra help. Winter came and went and left behind loads of trash and, you guessed it, plastic. So if you are headed out for a little spring beach walk bring a bag. Make a positive impact while getting your steps in. Garbage cans won't be back in the sand for some time still, so do Mama Earth a favor and pack out any trash you stumble upon. Make sure to clean up after your pups. Stay out of the dunes, they are protected.

Yesterday, I headed down to the beach with a few bags in tow to do my part in helping to clean up the beach. My bag was filled with mostly, you guessed it, plastic. I think it is safe to say that the 2 main things I collected were plastic bottle caps and super tiny pieces of broken down plastics. I also found a fair amount of the tiny silica beads. The majority of what is littering the sand at my favorite beach is such tiny pieces of plastic, which definitely take more time and care to try to collect.

I know I talk about the plastic problem and helping our beaches quite a bit here on my blog, and in real life too. But there is a reason. I am so tired of being brought to tears reading about animals like this whale and this whale that are being found with anywhere from 40 to almost 90 pounds of trash in their stomachs. I am tired of traveling to new beautiful places only to be saddened by their polluted state. I know there are a million ways I could be better, and each time I see something online about the state of our marine life it ignites a little fire in my belly to really try harder, to work to be better, to try and help others be better, and to make some changes.

Now you may be thinking- Mads, you live on the Great Lakes. You aren't going to find any poor whales in your waters. There won't be any poor sea turtles affected in your waters. That's fair, but I live on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes are one of the largest fresh water resources in the world. It is incredibly selfish to take for granted these waters, because there are too many people in this world who don't have the luxury of clean, fresh water.

Keeping our lakes and their beaches clean is just as important as helping the ocean and her beaches clean.

It's Beach Clean Season