Yes! Thank you for these kind/true words! The issue is much more insidious and systematic than many people realize (as such with many of our societal woes). As such, I'm just glad to help to my part in promoting conversations along the lines that you point out. It's been amazing to share beach cleaning stories whether here on Medium or via YouTube videos and other social media content. There's a real hunger for people to help make a difference--and while few of us may have "the answers" to these problems, every bit is a huge step on the path toward collective awareness and progress!

Plastic petals. Candy wrappers. Tattered ribbons. It was no surprise on my weekly beach clean up that I came across dozens of what I would consider to be “Valentine’s Day gift trash”. Sadly, man-made waste is never hard to find — even if you aren’t looking. …

Why I beach clean — in rain, sleet, snow, and even the holiday season! It’s no surprise to more and more people that our planet is facing an ocean plastic pollution catastrophe. As such, much of my conservation work…

In the summer of 2016, I visited North Carolina — a state that went blue for Obama in 2008 but flipped back to red for Romney in 2012. Certainly a dynamic place in terms of voter diversity. Yet I distinctly remember for this election cycle seeing lawn after lawn after…

Joe Labriola is a professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University in New York. His recent TEDx Talk, “Beach Cleaning to Make a Difference,” was released in May 2020. As someone who’s cleaned a literal ton of beach trash over the past several years, let me tell you…

The focus: the value of our individual efforts in effecting societal change — Joe Labriola is a professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Stony Brook University in New York. His recent TEDx Talk, “Beach Cleaning to Make a Difference,” was released in May 2020. Inception Last summer, a professor/poet friend texted me that she was hosting an open mic at a local writer’s conference…

[Click here to watch some of my recent experiences in adapting to beach cleaning during these rapidly changing and uncertain times!] There are lots of reasons to beach clean — and for lots of reasons beyond just doing something nice for your local community. …

Disclaimer: DementoDreams are fictional accounts of, well, demented dreams of writers. All resemblance to any real-world figures are merely coincidental. I was renting an apartment in NYC and Chris Hadfield was there cooking dinner. He was training for a mission to Mars and so he wanted to make me and…

Working from home can be stressful in normal circumstances, so what’s the best way to manage remote work in these wild times? If you’re anything like me, then you like to “get out” of the house for work. …