For my act of service regarding this injustice, I volunteered at a beach clean up in my local city at the University of Massachusetts Boston. I came across the event through a statewide organization called COASTSWEEP. The organization's mission is to improve the overall condition of our oceans through collecting marine debris in oceans across the state. The event was hosted by the Urban Harbors Institute at Umass Boston which is a organization that does research on Marine debris and provides opportunities for students at Umass Boston to become involved in solving the issue of ocean pollution. During the event the volunteers were split up into two groups where one group went off to the coastal beach and another group ventured to the harbor to pick up any waste around the area. While we were cleaning we found an abundance of cigarettes. I never thought about it at first because I originally viewed cigarettes as unassuming and small in comparison to plastic bottles and pieces of cardboard, but they can have a big impact if left on the ground frequently! At the end of the clean up all of the volunteers at the event ended up picking up collectively:

· Plastic pieces: 995

· Cigarette butts: 975

· Glass pieces: 829

· Food wrappers: 400

· Plastic/foam packaging: 230

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of doing a beach cleanup and would encourage anyone who is interested to join!