It occurred to me that just showing a pile of trash in a wagon really doesn’t do justice to the amount of waste is washing out to sea or being put in the landfills. For three days, I separated the ‘beach trash’ from the items that can be reused or recycled. The trash is mainly little bits of foam, packaging, cups, lids, styrofoam containers, plates, straws, plastic utensils and other flotsam and jetsam that are primarily on the tide line. The reusable bag on the ground are the non-recyclable items. The items in the wagon are clothing, textiles, toys, bottles and other miscellaneous that can be recycled, reused or donated.
Of special note, most this trash was collected only on the tide line and after the beach cleaners in a less than a mile stretch of the beach.
This day was after the ‘pickers’ had already picked the plastic and beverage cans in the picnic area at Belmont Park. I just saw the comforter laying on the lawn. Did not pick the blanket that was also on the lawn.
Looking at this, how many people or organizations would welcome the towels, the toys, the blankets, the clothing, the shoes? How many pickers need the bottles and the cans to make a living? What does this say about our disposable society?
Disgusting isn’t it?