Every summer, my mom, my sister and I all get beach badges on the Jersey Shore. We are regular beach-goers of Avon-By-The-Sea, which has a quaint, family-oriented beach. It is honestly one of my favorites places ever, and whenever I am there my stress level decreases infinitely.

Except for last week.

Last week, I went to the beach and was appalled by what my eyes had seen when roaming the beach. Every time we go, we take a nice walk down the shore to the borders of the towns surrounding Avon. It is normally a nice, peaceful and fun walk where my sister and I secretly climb on the fishermen jetties and look at the boats passing through the bridge separating Avon and Belmar.

But, last Wednesday, when I was walking my normal walk, I could not overlook the mass amounts of trash that covered the shore.

Typically, Avon is a pretty clean beach, as is most of the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County. But this was just ridiculous. I was so saddened to see what people had carelessly left on the shores that they enjoy themselves, left for animals to get sick off of and make the beach look disgusting. There were too many cigarettes to count, empty water bottles, a random Capri Sun straw and a few plastic bags, amidst other items. I saw some seagulls trying to eat garbage and almost cried on the spot, trying to get them to stop.

I had never seen the beach so trashed before, and it made me wonder what had happened just within the past week to make this beach so dirty. I wanted to just buy a ton of cleaning supplies and clean the beach myself. I was so disappointed in the people who had trashed the beach, whoever they were, that it loomed over my entire trip there and ruined it for the day.

I think what bothered me the most about it was that people felt like they could just drop whatever trash they had onto the beach as if it meant nothing. I honest to god want to know what went through their minds, if anything at all, that compelled them to trash the shore line instead of simply walking a few hundred feet to the nearest trash can/recycling bin on the sand. This made me so disheartened that I just want to raise awareness of how big an issue this is becoming on the shore.

I just hope people remember that these are our beaches, and the only people responsible for them in the end are us. We need to take care of it and treat it with respect. If we do not, it may not be there for future generations to enjoy.

And the thought of a teenager a hundred or so years down the road not being able to make the same memories as me on the Jersey Shore makes me more upset than anyone could ever know.

Note: I did not bring my phone with me to the beach that day, so I was not able to take any pictures of the trash. The photo in the cover photo is from a different day at Avon-By-The-Sea, New Jersey.