Every year, my whole family heads to Cape May, NJ for the first week of August, where we splash around in the sun, eat farm-fresh produce, and sleep for 9+ hours a night. I feel like I’m living the ultra healthy, sun-kissed life.

But recently I read about the gross things lurking in and around America’s oceans and beaches: pet waste, runoff from waste water treatment centers, and chemicals. In fact, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says that illness-causing bacteria is often at unsafe levels—and that 35 million people a year will become sick after swimming in dirty water. There’s nothing relaxing about that.

Luckily, there’s a simple tool from the Natural Resources Defense Council that will give you the heads up on your beach’s safety. I quickly typed in the Cape May zip code and breathed a sigh of relief—clean and healthy! Now I can go back to looking forward to the best week of the summer.

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