Albert’s Organics Purchasing and Save Our Shores
On May Day 2010 the Albert's Purchasing Department gathered together to participate in a beach cleanup at Seacliff Sate Beach on the Monterey Bay. The Purchasing office has adopted this beach and will be regularly holding beach cleanup days for employees, family and friends. The "adopt a beach" program is coordinated by Save Our Shores which is a non-profit marine conservation organization in Santa Cruz, California. Their mission is caring for the marine environment through ocean awareness, advocacy, and citizen action. Albert's Purchasing has committed to becoming stewards of our beloved Monterey Bay Marine sanctuary. Volunteer stewards play an essential role in leading local clean-up events, youth activities and participating in community festivals.
The importance of this clean up became evident as they learned that Plastic Pollution represents a significant contribution to the non-point source pollution found in our Monterey Bay, as elsewhere around the world. While terms such as Marine Debris and Ocean Trash have been used to describe the garbage that enters the ocean, a growing number of scientists, researchers and marine-based organizations have adopted the term Plastic Pollution not only because 90% of floating ocean trash is plastic but because the term pollution highlights the point that we are dealing with a pervasive substance that contaminates water, the cells of organisms from fish to humans, and knows no boundaries. Eighty percent of all plastic pollution that enters the ocean originates from a land-based source. Common sources of land-based plastic pollution include: recreational beach users, people who drop litter on sidewalks and streets, plastics manufacturers and transporters, illegal dumping, and areas with inadequate trash receptacles. It is important to remember that all land-based plastic pollution has the potential to become ocean trash. Plastic items can easily be blown towards the ocean or washed down storm drains that flow directly. These facts drove home important it really is to become familiar with the wild spaces and protected areas in your region and to become involved in stewardship activities.