Michael Karapetian, Earth Day Consultant
DIARY OF CELEBRITY CLEANUP IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Location Isle of Palms, Charleston, South Carolina
WEATHER: Overcast.
MOOD: Happy to be doing a clean-up, sad to see so much plastic!
I don't typically jump into my car and drive hours for a cleanup in another state, but when a long-standing and much liked partner, Make It Cute, invites you to join their annual cleanup in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina, you make an exception.
Make It Cute is the brain-child of the phenomenally successful actress and environmentalist, Amanda Seyfried, and her two childhood best friends, Maureen North and Anne Hoehn. They wanted to create planet-friendly and plastic-free playhouses for their own kids, and everyone else as well, to spark old fashioned play and genuine imagination.
With sustainability as one of their core values, Make It Cute has partnered with EARTHDAY.ORG and they plant a tree, with our Canopy Project, every time a playhouse is sold. On top of this, they regularly do cleanups throughout the year, this being their second annual Charleston cleanup and support us at events and galas.
I completed the drive with a record-low number of stops and I found myself starving in downtown Charleston on the Friday night before the cleanup. The city felt like a movie set, with historic colorful houses lining the streets, and old government buildings dating back to 1670. I made my way to a private shopping event at Sewing Down South, a lifestyle and home decor boutique opened by Craig Conover, a huge star on the Bravo reality TV show Southern Charm and Summer House. Craig had very kindly volunteered to join the clean up the following morning.
The storefront was packed and onlookers were waiting outside to see if they could get a picture with Amanda or Craig. I jumped from conversation to conversation with people talking about Earth Day, the cleanup happening the next day, Charleston, and the rum runner punch they were handing out freely!
From left to right, Maureen North, Michael Karapetian, Amanda Seyfried at Sewing Down South popup event
Amanda and her beloved dog, Finn
Although EARTHDAY.ORG is no stranger to cleanups, but this cleanup had an extra dimension to it because we released our latest report, Pets Vs Plastics, just two days later, highlighting how our beloved pets are being unwittingly poisoned by microplastics and plastic toxic chemicals in their plastic toys, accessories and even in their food.
In preparation for this report coming out, Amanda and her gorgeous dog, Finn, volunteered to be tested for bisphenols and phthalates, two common toxic chemicals additives used to make plastics - both of them are detrimental to human and pet health. They have been found, amongst other things, to disrupt the endocrine system, and are associated with behavioral issues as well as impacting the reproductive system and fertility.
Both Finn and Amanda tested high for phthalates. In fact Finn was in the top 90% of those tested. But the sad truth is that these toxins are probably present in nearly all of us because microplastics are in our air, our water, oceans, in our food, the soil, our homes, in wildlife, and in our bodies. It is why EDO is fighting so hard to see a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040.
The next morning, I got up early, grabbed my things, and headed to Isle of Palms in Charleston, a sleepy barrier island just off the coast of South Carolina. The sun had just risen, and there were surfers off in the distance. Beachgoers slowly arrived to start their relaxing Saturday at the beach. With the help of Maureen's husband and his neighbor, we set up the booth, tables, snacks for the kids, and T-shirts for the volunteers.
Amanda setting up the table to hand off supplies to volunteers
Amanda and Craig pose by Make It Cute Playhouse
Volunteer and a delightful dog helping us out!
Friends from the night before arrived, along with some new faces, as we handed out t-shirts with the Great Global Cleanup and Make It Cute logo on them. Craig and his team showed up taking the last T-shirts we had and I began to round everyone up (a challenge when many of the kids were trying to run off into the ocean). We had a great turn out of 40 volunteers so I took a moment to speak to them about the importance of this cleanup work and our goal of calling for the reduction in plastic production. Amanda stepped in to share her own experiences and effectively hyped up the crowd to go pick up trash! on times.
I typically spend all of my working day focused on global plastic production statistics and laws and their collective impact on the world, so it's easy to forget that the average cleanup volunteer isn't taking part with all of this detail in their mind too! They are showing up to protect their own beach and their own community, to spend time with their friends, doing good. But whether they know it or not they are part of the wider global movement, that proves that when we come together, we truly can make a difference. Plus, we had a lot of fun socializing!
Amanda, Michael, Anne, and Maureen posing with Great Global Cleanup Flags and cleaning up!
After scouring the beach for a few hours, and picking up large, new, weathered and even tiny pieces of trash, we collected 80 pounds in all. After everyone handed back their bags of trash and gloves - we all switched into our beachwear and headed straight into the ocean to cool down and enjoy looking at the newly clean beach.
Thank you to everyone who supported this amazing effort, especially Maureen, Anne, Craig and of course Amanda! Let's do some more!
*If you want to organize a cleanup and become part of the movement, reach out to Michael at [email protected].
