develop a positive attitude about 

 themselves and their planet." 



"Once they get a little older, they 

 start to set a pattern. They're ex- 

 posed to kids with other philoso- 

 phies. If we wait too long, they may 

 already have something ingrained 

 in their minds. They may already 

 have a lackadaisical attitude about 

 where they put their garbage," 

 Wood says. 



Wood focuses his programs on 

 marine debris towards children, 

 with the hope that he'll also reach 

 their parents. 



"So when that parent pulls up to 

 a traffic light and dumps his ashtray 

 in the street, the child may tell the 

 parent, 'Hey, wait a minute. Don't 

 do that.' So we're able to approach 

 adults through children. Sometimes 

 adults won't listen to other adults, 

 but they'll listen to kids," Wood 

 says. 



Evidently, Wood is right. Sixth- 

 grader Becky says if she saw her 

 parents littering, she'd reprimand 

 them. And if she saw a stranger 

 drop trash on the beach? "I'd give 

 them a dirty look, and then I'd pick 

 it up," she says. 



Anna says, "If I saw someone lit- 

 tering, I'd tell them that animals are 

 dying because you're doing this." 



Andrew would have another ap- 

 proach. "I'd pick it up and ask 

 them why they did that. Then I'd 

 give them reasons not to do that 

 again," he says. 



The students also had some rec- 

 ommendations for reducing litter on 

 the beaches. 



Anna believes local beach com- 

 munities should pitch in more. She 

 says, "On some beaches, we should 

 have more trash cans. If there are 

 more there, people might use them 

 more." 



Andrew says we should "pass 

 some more laws against dumping 

 trash." 



"If you see trash on the beach, 

 take it back and help clean up," 

 Courtney says. 



Mark believes it's all a matter of 

 getting the word out. "We should 

 put advertisements on plastic 

 bags— Save the ocean.' And then 

 people might think about it more," 

 he says. 



But even for all their concern and 

 sage advice, every now and then, 

 the innocence of a sixth-grader was 

 replaced with a touch of cynicism. 



Becky put the problem most suc- 

 cinctly when she said, "There's 

 always gonna be somebody who 

 doesn't care. There's always gonna 

 be some business or some people 

 who just don't care." 



But Becky adds, "When we grow 

 up and we get into offices like 

 governor and stuff, . . .we can do a 

 lot more about it." 



Concerned kids pick up trash in 

 last year's beach cleanup. 



THE 



BIG SWEEP 



Volunteer for The Big Sweep 

 today! 



Join others Sept. 23 for the na- 

 tion's first statewide waterway 

 cleanup. To volunteer, pick your 

 favorite North Carolina beach, lake 

 or river. We'll supply the litter bags; 

 you bring gloves, a hat and sun- 

 screen. For cleanup locations, call 

 our Telecom USA toll-free hotline 

 1-800-27SWEEP between 8 a.m. 

 and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. 



And show your support early by 

 ordering a Big Sweep T-shirt. The 

 white, 100 percent cotton shirts 

 carry the blue and yellow sweeping 

 logo across the front. 



The T-shirts come in medium, 

 large and extra-large sizes. 

 Mediums are great for kids. Be 

 sure to specify the quantities and 

 sizes you need. 



To order yours, send $5 plus $1 

 for postage and handling per shirt 

 to Sea Grant. Make checks payable 

 to The Big Sweep-KNCCB. 



