I used to enjoy walking along the beach…taking in the salt air, wind and surf…spotting pretty shells here and there. But lately this relaxing pastime has become more like an unending battle:  man versus trash. I’m distressed by the unending wave of trash that swims to shore.

For the past few months we’ve been visiting a state park that offers kayaking, fishing, surfing and swimming; it’s a beautiful spot. Days that we walk along the beach, we’ve gotten into the habit of picking up the trash that’s inevitably in our path. The other day we noticed a sign announcing a Beach Sweep, asking for volunteers to help clean up the area for a couple of hours on Sunday morning, so the hub and I figured we’d take part.

There were about 40 volunteers, and in just two hours, we collected a total of about 40 large bags of trash.  The 3 mile stretch of beach that we covered looked pristine. Although we were exhausted, it was gratifying to see such a clean sweep of dunes, water and sand – however fleeting.

What amazes me is the fact that the trash surfacing along the coast is a constant stream. Whenever we walk along the shore in one direction and think we’ve gathered up all the debris, when we turn around and make our way back, there’s always a fresh serving of trash that has reappeared.  Almost all of it is plastic of one sort or another – spoons, forks, drinking cups, straws, baggies, hangers, toothbrushes, hair brushes, rope, bottle tops, and all sizes and manner of containers and jugs. There are plenty of shoes and oddly enough, sometimes just insoles. Second to plastic is the appearance of Styrofoam. It saddens me to know that many animals ingest plastic and Styrofoam. I wish we’d adjust our agendas. Rather than wasting time and money enforcing marijuana laws, why not make the production of conventional plastic, illegal? We spend a lot of time cleaning up the mess, why not consider the source instead?

Wouldn’t it be nice if all those non-essential but convenient take out and disposable containers were made of biodegradable bio-plastic. All baggies and trash bags, compostable. Right, dream on. Ideally, we’d all bring our own reusable containers to our favorite take-out restaurants, salad bars and markets, but we know that’s not going to happen on a national or global basis anytime soon.

Of the 3 R’s – efforts to both Reduce overall consumption and Reuse existing goods are more important than the easiest, most popular one:  Recycle.  So, when’s Reduce Day and Reuse Day? How about every day.

Related:  previously on altCon – Garbage Island: a sea of floating toxicity

(photos are of the surf & a few friends we met yesterday)