Students from Kamehameha Schools teamed up with the Waikiki Aquarium to clear invasive algae (Avrainvillea amadelpha, or leather mudweed) from the ocean on Friday, April 19. Photo courtesy Waikiki Aquarium.

Today is Earth Day, and while we will all be extra conscious today about being good to the earth, ask yourself: What can we do the rest of the year? Earth Day is a great marketing opportunity, but it's really the lifestyle changes that we make on a daily basis that will make a positive impact.

While participating in a beach cleanup with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii on Saturday, the thought occurred to me that we all should be doing this every time we go to the beach, rather than as part of an organized cleanup. Note to self: Get out to the beach more often.

After scouring the coastline, we found mostly cigarette butts, but also picked up pieces of rope, some plastic debris, some carnations that could biodegrade but didn't really belong on the beach — and nestled in the naupaka bushes, a whole hibachi grill top and a couple of beer bottles.

Picking up cigarette butts during a recent Earth Day beach cleanup was the biggest "pain in the butt." Star-Advertiser file photo.

Picking up cigarette butts was the biggest pain, to be honest. They're usually buried in the sand, and can be big or small — but it's particularly gross to think that it was in someone's mouth, even more off-putting to see someone's lipstick rimmed around the remaining butt.

The beach is not a giant sand tray, and those butts contain plastic and chemicals that shouldn't be leaching into the sand, nor our oceans. It's about time that we passed a law banning smoking at East Honolulu  beach parks (including Kuhio, Kapiolani, Ala Moana and Sandy). Let's hope they get to enforcing it soon.

While today was Earth Day, there are more events this month:

>> 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24 at the Hawaii State Capitol Auditorium: Dr. Axel Timmerman, professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of Hawaii, presents "Fifteen Frequently Asked Questions on Climate Change." Talk is followed by a screening of "The Island President" (directed by John Shenk) from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The documentary film tells the story of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, which is faced with the threat of sea level rise, making its isles uninhabitable.

President Mohamed Nasheed of the M aldives confronts a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced — the literal survival of his country and everyone in it in the face of sea level rise. Courtesy photo.

>> 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 27: Manoa Public Library holds a "recycled reads" book sale including books, CDs and DVDs. All proceeds benefit the Manoa Library.

>> 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, April 29 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Architecture auditorium. Dr. Magnus Engwall, professor of ecotoxicology at Orebro University in Sweden, discusses his research on persistent organic pollutants and what he has found on plastic marine debris from Hawaii's beaches. His lecture is titled: "Assessing the toxicity of plastic marine debris & harm to marine life." Free. Visit www.b-e-a-c-h.org/lectureseries.html

The Surfrider Foundation hosts a beach cleanup at Point Panic at Kakaako Beach Park this Saturday (March 30) with a focus on cleaning up cigarette butts. Photo from planetearthandhumanity.blogspot.com.

The Surfrider Foundation hosts a "butt-clearing" and beach cleanup Saturday morning (March 30) at Point Panic at Kakaako.

Meet at Point Panic at 10 a.m. Look for flags and tents opposite the Kewalo Marine Laboratory.

This months' beach cleanups is focused on cleaning up cigarette butts, one of the most common items littered along the coastline. Volcano E-Cigs is offering the Surfrider Foundation 5 cents for each butt collected. Visit www.cigarettelitter.org to read published research about how cigarette butts cause harm to aquatic life.

Honolulu City Council, meanwhile, passed  Bill 72, which bans smoking at most East Oahu beaches, including Kapiolani Park, Kuhio Beach Park, Duke Kahanamoku Beach Park, Sandy Beach Park and the beach side of Ala Moana Regional Park. The bill now goes to Mayor Kirk Caldwell for his signature.

The beach cleanup will tally up the items cleared from the coastline, followed by lunch provided by Blue Tree Cafe.

If you miss this beach cleanup, Divas Doing Good, the non-profit arm of Eden in Love and The Wedding Cafe at Ward Warehouse, has organized another one at Kakaako Beach Park from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, at Kakaako Beach Park. There'll be games, prizes and all ages are welcome. Please RSVP by April 1 to shop@edeninlove.com.

Disney Pixar's "Finding Nemo" has a great message: that all drains lead to the ocean. So we need to care about what goes down our drains if we care about the ocean and life in the ocean. Photo courtesy Disney.

My 2-year-old has recently decided on "Finding Nemo" as his latest movie to watch over and over again. We've moved on from Disney Pixar's "Cars" (which we saw at least 150 times) and now we're into Disney Pixar's "Nemo," which came out on Blu-Ray over the holidays.

Nemo has many important messages, among them the stark reality that sharks and barracudas consume smaller fish in the ocean ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef. Also, that you only hold someone back if you don't give them a chance to go out there, try things and gain self-confidence (i.e. Nemo's overprotective dad). Plus, life is, and should be, an adventure (just ask Dorie).

But most important of all, the "tank fish" living in the dentist's aquarium inform us that "all drains lead to the ocean." Thus, their escape route possibilities include being flushed down the toilet or going down the dentist's water fountain.

And that's an important message for us as humans and residents of Hawaii, where we're surrounded by ocean.

We usually have the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality.

When we put something in the trash or pour something down the drain, it's gone, as far as we're concerned. Until we learn that it's not, because our landfills are overflowing so much that we have to consider shipping opala to the mainland, and whatever goes down the drain ends up in the ocean.

And if we want to enjoy the ocean — swim in it, play in it, surf in it or snorkel and scuba-dive and see a thriving reef — we'll be affected by whatever we put down that drain.

Keeping whatever flows into the ocean clean is the mission of Hui O Ko‘olaupoko, which is featured in today's Green Leaf column. The non-profit group's focus is to protect ocean health by restoring the aina, from mauka to makai.

It's not the most glamorous work, but we're talking about stream restorations, storm drain retrofits and rain gardens — projects that rely on the help of volunteers but also bring the community together.

You, too, can make a difference. Here are four simple things you can do, according to Hui O Ko‘olaupoko. 1) Plant natives that are drought and pest resistant. 2) Wash your car on a lawn with phosphorus free soaps. 3) Sweep driveways, sidewalks and road gutters to prevent debris from entering the storm drain and 4) Scoop up dog poop or pet waste and dispose of it properly to prevent excess bacteria in our streams.

And, if you've got the room in your yard, consider building a rain garden.

It's a simple lesson for a 2-year-old — all drains lead to the ocean. All of it is connected. So we need to take care of the aina in order to take care of the ocean to keep Nemo's home beautiful.

Hawaii green sea turtles on the North Shore are among marine mammals threatened by plastic litter on the shores. Photo by Nina Wu.

Surfers and non-surfers alike, mark your calendars for the "Da Hui North Shore Beach Clean Up" on Saturday, Nov. 10.

Check-in time is 8 a.m. at Turtle Bay Resort, where different groups will then be shuttled to various zones for the beach cleanup and treasure hunt scheduled between 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Enjoy a free barbecue and live music afterwards at about 11 a.m. from Mike Love, Paula Fuga and other bands, plus a pro-surf autograph session at 12:30 p.m.

Da Hui (short for Hui O He‘e Nalu) teams up with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii for the clean up, as well as the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, Eddie Aikau Foundation and Surfrider Foundation, Oahu Chapter.

Quiksilver, Hurley, Volcom, Oakley and others are sponsoring the event.

All debris collected from the  beach cleanup will be tallied and reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hard plastics will also go to Method to be transformed into recycled packaging. Method recently came out with the first bottles made from a blend of plastic debris collected from Oahu's shores for its dish + hand soap, available at Whole Foods Market.

Claire Flynt, last year's best overall winner of "One Foot at a Time" - Photo from raptober.org/images.

It's Raptoberfest time.

That's the Rise Above Plastics version of Oktoberfest. The Surfrider Foundation kicked off the second annual "Raptober" celebration earlier last week - it's a month-long effort to educate and inspire the public to eliminate plastic waste from our oceans.

"Each year millions of seabirds, fish and marine mammals die due to ingestion of, or entanglement in plastic," said Bill Hickman, Surfrider Foundation's Rise Above Plastic Program Coordinator. "By dedicating the entire month of October toward educating the public on the effects of marine plastics, we hope to jump start their desire to reduce their own personal plastic footprints and the amount of litter reaching our seas."

Some simple things you can do (as illustrated by Raptoberfest cartoons) include:

>> If you see a friend drinking out of a plastic water bottle, encourage them to switch to a reusable water bottle.

>> If you see a a friend using a single-use plastic bag, offer them a reusable bag.

>> During the week of Oct. 15, join or renew your membership to the Surfrider Foundation for a discount of $30 and get a wallet or pocketbook handmade from upcycled plastic bags collected from Bali beaches.

Read more at "10 Ways" to reduce your plastic footprint.

Participate in the "One Foot at a Time" plastic cleanup challenge again. Here's how it works: Participants collect one square foot of trash from their beach or community, then use the material to create a unique mosaic sculpture using one of five downloadable templates on the Foundation's Raptober event website.

The Foundation will judge photo submissions of the sculptures. Winners get cool surfgear, including a surfboard, from Rusty.

Visit www.raptober.org for more about the contest.

Captain Charles Moore, author of "Plastic Ocean," will return to Oahu on Sunday, Oct. 14 for  more of "The Plastic Pollution Conversation — Pacific Rim Tour 2012." He'll be at the University Laboratory School Cafeteria from 3 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

If you haven't joined the conversation yet, now's a good time to begin.

Moore, also founder of the Algalita Marine Research Institute, is eager to tell you the story of how he first stumbled upon plastic debris, now known as the Pacific Garbage Patch sailing from Hawaii back to California after a yacht race — how the "plastic soup" pollution continues, and how it is harmful to the ocean as well as human health.

He'll talk about the most recently completed Algalita expedition to the Pacific Garbage Patch as well as the 2011 tsunami debris making its way across the North Pacific Gyre.

"Plastic is now a pollutant - it was unintended, but it happens to be an unintended consequence of doing everything more easily with plastic," says Moore. "The throwaway lifestyle, discard of single-use plastics has created, along with other disposed plastics, a plastic soup in our generalized ocean with garbage patches in the five major gyres. Millions of square miles of the ocean are highly polluted with the broken down products of our plastic age...to me this requires a plastic pollution conversation."

Moore wants to bring the volume of the conversation up. Besides Hawaii, he travels to Japan, Hong Kong,  Australia, New Zealand and Chile.

"We've got to rethink our relationship with plastic," he says.

The talk is presented by Moore's Algalita Marine Research Institute, the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, University Laboratory School and Surfrider Foundation. University Laboratory School is at 1776 University Ave. Parking is available on the lower athletic field.

For more information, contact plasticfree@kokuahawaiifoundation.org.

Check it out!

Method is introducing what it calls "the world's first bottle made with ocean plastic" for its new 2-in-1 dish and hand soap.

It's made partially from plastic debris that Method employees hand-collected from Hawaii beaches over the last year and a half, in partnership with non-profit groups including the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.

Just two weeks ago, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii organized a beach cleanup at Kailua and Lanikai, where more than 700 volunteers collected 11,306 pieces of microplastic.

The San Francisco-based company worked with Envision Plastics to recycle the plastic debris into bottles, which are a combination of ocean plastic and post-consumer recycled plastic. The result is a gray resin.

Method, which makes green cleaning products, introduced the bottle to help raise awareness about the several million tons of plastic that pollute the ocean and harm the marine populations every year.

According to Method:

>> Plastics are estimated to represent almost 80 percent of the total marine debris floating in the world's oceans.

>> On average, there are 46,000 pieces of plastic swirling in each square mile of our oceans.

>> Every year, at least 1 million sea birds and 100,000 sharks, turtles, dolphins and whales die from eating plastic. (You've seen the laysan albatross with stomachs full of plastic).

>> Fish in the middle depths of the Northern Pacific Ocean are ingesting up to 24,000 tons of plastic per year.

>> A total of 267 species around the world are harmed by plastic: 86 percent sea turtles, 44 percent seabirds and 43 percent of ocean mammals ingest or become tangled in plastic (Remember the beached whale on Kauai that biologists later found had swallowed plastic?)

"Through this new and innovative use of recovered ocean plastic, we hope to show how design can be used to tackle environmental problems," said Method in its card description. "We're not saying that the solution to the ocean plastic problem is making bottle out of trash, but by doing so we can prove that there are alternatives to using virgin materials — like PCR plastic, which we use in all of our bottles. By recycling + reusing existing plastic, we can turn off the tap."

Method's ocean plastic bottles of dish + hand soap hits the shelves at Whole Foods Market nationwide this week for $4.99. The biodegradable formula is available in two fragrances: sea minerals or sweet water. Also available at methodhome.com.

Volunteers scour Kailua beach for marine debris and litter, including microplastics, cigarette butts and bottle caps during a beach cleanup for International Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 15. Photo courtesy of Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii.

Pieces of microplastic surpassed the number of cigarette butts in Sustainable Coastline Hawaii's latest tally of its beach cleanup at Kailua and Lanikai (including the  Mokoluas & Flat Island) on Sept. 15, International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Some 700 volunteers on that Saturday picked up an estimated:

>> 11,306 pieces of microplastic

>> 8,891 cigarette butts

>> 2,563 Styrofoam cps and containers

>> 2,146 food and candy wrappers

>> 1,533 caps, lids and tops

>> 1,385 non-nylon rope and net

>> 945 bottle  caps

>> 868 glass bottles

>> 717 rubber pieces

>> 677 plastic bags

>> 655 fishing nets/rope

>> 522 aluminum cans

>> Volunteers also picked up 462  beverage bottles, 450 large pieces of plastic, 342 personal care products, 231 utensils, 159 pieces of clothing/shoes, 108 toys, 31 lighters and 11 tires.

When volunteers participate in a beach cleanup, they also fill out tally sheets that help SCH 1) convey the true power of collective action 2) understand where the rubbish is coming from for source reduction education and 3) help initiate legislation that reduces pollution.

Microplastics, cigarette buttes and Styrofoam remain at the top of the list, according to Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, which says "refusing Styrofoam, making sure butts are properly disposed of, and avoiding purchasing plastic can make a huge difference in the health and safety of our oceans."

The data is also reported to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

Take part in the largest Kailua Beach cleanup in history (including Kailua, Lanikai, Flat Island and the Mokes) as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, Sept. 15.

Put it on your calendar: International Coastal Cleaup Day is Saturday, Sept. 15.

Here are three beach cleanups you can participate in:

>> Kailua Beach Park Cleanup: Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii is organizing what it calls "the largest beach cleanup event in Kailua history." The cleanup covers all of Kailua Beach, Lanikai Beach as well as Popoia and Mokunui Islands. Meet up at 9:30 a.m. Bags, gloves, tally sheets will be provided. Cleanup ends at noon and volunteers are invited to Lanikai Park for an afternoon of live music, "green" guest speakers, keiki games, eco-education, some food and more. Visit SustainableCoastlinesHawaii.org.

Agents for Change. Courtesy photo.

>> Sand Island Beach Park Cleanup: The Surfrider Foundation's Oahu Chapter and Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties Agents for Change will team up for a community beach cleanup at Sand Island as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day.

The cleanup takes place from 10 a.m. to noon at Sand Island Beach Park (end of Sand Island Access Road).

Prizes courtesy of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties Agents for Change include eco-friendly backpacks, reusable bags and water bottles plus a plate lunch for all participants. Coldwell  Banker Pacific Properties Agents for Change is also donating a $2,500 check to the Surfrider Foundation.

>> Kaena Point: The Friends of Kaena also invite volunteers to join a beach cleanup of this beautiful coastline on the Mokuleia side of the North Shore  (and home to nesting Laysan albatross) from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Please bring a reusable water bottle, sunscreen, hat, work gloves and close-toed shoes. Carpooling is encouraged. RSVP here. Call 586-0915 or email info@friendsofkaena.org for more information.

Help Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation keep Magic Island barefoot friendly on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to noon. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Calling one, calling all beach lovers to volunteer for a cleanup at Magic Island from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 11.

It's actually going to be fun, given that it's part of the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project (in its sixth year), hosted by Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation.

The Magic Island cleanup will be one of 25 held nationwide — from Santa Barbara, Calif. to South Carolina and Miami Beach. Look for the Surfrider tent when you get there.

Afterwards, all participants 21 and over are welcome to a celebration from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Dave & Buster's at Ward Centers for wine and a chance to win surf prizes.

The event is free and open to the public. Follow @BarefootWine on Twitter or #beachrescue to join the conversation.