Michele Wittig

Once again, I'll share my collage... part of my WHY... here are just a few of the alarming number of species that are threatened or endangered. Keep up the Good Earth work, fellow Ecochallengers!!

I finish this month's Ecochallenge as an outlaw, LOL. Some of you may have seen my post from a few weeks ago where I cleaned up a trail, posted some "please don't litter your cigarette butts" signs, and placed a sand bucket for people to put their cancer sticks out in. I returned today to find that everything was gone. It must be the Park & Rec department because vandals wouldn't have taken the time to remove/dispose of everything - especially the sand bucket which was really heavy! I wonder... are they looking for who left these things on public property?! My fingerprints and DNA are all over that stuff! :-)

Oh well... I hope I still had an influence on people since everything was there for a least 10 days. Today I saw considerably fewer cigarette butts littered. Plus people watched me doing the clean-up, and I hope that put some ideas in their head. Like... don't just walk past what you see, do something about it!

As always, the Ecochallenge has been lots of fun, and very inspirational. I am passionate about all of this, but participating and sharing ideas and wins with like-minded people is especially motivating. Thank you to EVERYBODY for all that you do!! Keep up the good work.

I committed to recording a video to share my "WHY" for participating in the Ecochallenge. Scuba diving is my passion; I love marine wildlife. Here is a link to a short video compilation; a few clips from a recent trip to a small Fijian island called Beqa. What I want to share is the incredible beauty of the underwater world so that more people will see it's worth protecting. It appears to be downsampled by Google but I hope you can still get an idea.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EWVkJgVvC1ssUqDJQ4qKCmyzcoJd8KBU/view?usp=sharing

During this trip, I was only trying to capture the pretty stuff so I didn't record the barren and damaged areas of the reef. The top of the coral bommies you see in the video were GORGEOUS (to a depth of about 40') but down below and between these bommies it was sad. Compared to a trip we took to Fiji about 6 years ago, this time we saw virtually no larger fish. No grouper, trevally, or some of the larger schooling fish like barracuda or tuna. It was apparent the waters have been overfished. Additionally, we used to see sharks on almost every dive - a sign of a healthy reef. The only sharks we saw on this trip were coaxed to the area for a specially arranged excursion - a "shark dive" - in which sharks are fed scraps (one clip included here).

My message is that the ocean is an amazingly beautiful place that we can't take for granted. We need to limit what we pull out of it or there won't be anything left. Our population growth is seriously taxing it. We need to prioritize dealing with the climate crisis to keep coral reefs healthy. 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean. An estimated 3 billion people rely on seafood as a significant source of animal protein, and 10-12 percent of the world's population depends on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihood. Thank goodness for movements like the Ecochallenge to inspire activism!

I did a big trail cleanup earlier this week and returned to see the fruits of my labor. Generally, it was good. A few people had used the sand-filled bucket I left for butts (even though smoking is prohibited, people are still doing it). There were a few butts and pieces of litter in the bucket. While walking my dog I picked up any new butts on the ground and was frustrated to see 10 of the same brand - likely the same person. After being thanked by one passerby on cleanup day, she told me there is one man that walks the trail frequently and drops butts all the time. I created a new sign to post in a few places along the trail with a stronger message, directed at the offenders. I just got them laminated and will post soon. I have to at least try to get through to them!

Today I learned about columbines native to North America and specifically my area - Oregon. I'm not sure if this one is the Oregon native Aquilegia formosa. The seeds were harvested in North Plains on my friend's property. These plants pop up and flower in gorgeous colors of purple, blue, and cranberry. I absolutely love them, and so do the pollinators! I have collected seeds from my plants and shared them with friends. They're a big hit!

Picked up lots of litter on my walk today; mostly small things that get overlooked but will run into a storm drain... and into our waterways and ocean. Cigarette butts, small pieces of plastic, candy wrappers, etc. It's easy to overlook these things and the Ecochallenge is a good reminder of not just what we should do this month, but every month.