I’m working to get back to more regular exercise…more than just on weekends.  On Monday I made it to the gym and felt good about getting my heart rate up and logging some miles on the treadmill.  But when I considered heading back there on Wednesday, the beach called my name instead.  And because the low tide coincided with the time I had for exercise, I headed outside to log my miles.

I always walk with a camera–either my Sony a6000 or my phone, so taking pictures is always part of my beach walk practice.  Most often, I walk with my husband and his practice is picking up the trash he finds on the beach.  When the trash is interesting, I take photos of it and post it to Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #litterati.  Litterati is an effort to bring awareness to the problems of trash in our environment–they encourage people to photograph trash, throw it away, and post the photo to social media.  My friend Janis takes the most amazing photos of trash–they are truly art!  Some of them are currently on display at the Bay Model Exhibit in Marin County, near San Francisco, CA.  She also picks up pounds and pounds of trash on the beach.

This past week I have found lots of sunglasses.  Here’s a favorite from yesterday.

Here’s a pair my husband found (and I photographed) over the weekend.

And then there’s the random horse you find intertwined in the kelp.

Today Geoff picked up a full bag of bits of plastic.  Wrappers, bags, cups, water bottles, plastic balls, and more.

So let’s make this week’s photo challenge be about raising awareness about litter in our favorite places.  Where do you find litter?  Take its photo, pick it up and throw it away, and share the image with the hashtag #litterati to help others remember that trash is a problem for all of us.

You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!) I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #litterati for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

Enjoy your favorite place (or places) and be on the lookout for litter!  Let’s all make an effort to keep our environment clean so it can be enjoyed for generations to come!