How do you clean all the sand on
a beach? A group of volunteers didn’t do it grain by grain, but took on the
task screen by screen.
With the guidance of
Seaside-based conservation group Sea Turtles Forever, about 50 volunteers
gathered to clean the sand near Haystack Rock using unique screen filtration
systems.
Developed by Sea Turtles Forever
founder Marc W. Ward, the systems look like a cross between a medical stretcher
and a flour sifter. Dirty sand is piled on a sheet of fine mesh stretched
between two long poles, and the mesh catches plastic and other foreign material
while allowing the sand to fall through. According to Ward, a static charge in
the mesh can catch plastic particles as small as 100 micrometers across.
The result? An area of silky,
pure sand free of plastic litter — especially the tiny bits that pose a threat
to wildlife.
Plastic materials that enter the
marine environment slowly break down after prolonged outdoor exposure. These
broken down fragments — called microplastics — form a soupy jumble of small
plastic particles at sea, which make landfall after being caught in currents.
Plastics in the ocean and on the
beach can be very destructive to the marine ecosystem. Animals can mistake
small, often colorful microplastics for food. This can lead to the introduction
of toxic chemicals to the animal and has been known to lead to digestive
blockage in fish, seabirds and turtles. Microplastics have been found in
shellfish, left behind after the filter feeders draw in and expel contaminated
water.
Microplastics continue to present
environmental hazards after they are washed onto shore.
Researchers at the Marine Biology
and Ecology Research Centre in the United Kingdom have identified the capacity
for certain plastics to carry pollutants, including PCBs and DDT. These
chemicals have been tied to neurological defects in children.
While some microplastics come
from ships and the commercial fishing industry, a 2016 report from the
Environmental Protection Agency states that marine plastic pollution comes
primarily from sources on land — not just drink lids littered in beach towns,
but shopping bags, straws and other discarded plastic waste that made it into
the trash but escaped from garbage trucks or landfills.
Cannon Beach Mayor Sam Steidel,
who attended at the cleanup, emphasized the need to reduce the use of throwaway
plastic in the first place. “Cannon Beach is very environmentally conscious,”
Steidel said. “To get the message out, people need to be aware of what we’re
doing to our environment through the excessive use of plastic.”
After about four hours, Ward and
his 50 volunteers had removed about 80 pounds of plastic from a 100-by-18 meter
section of beach (picture a one-third strip of the length of a football field).
With millions of tons of plastics reaching the world’s beaches each year, Ward
acknowledged that the outlook is bleak.
“We’re in trouble,” Ward said,
gesturing toward the sea. “Maybe not this year or next year, but 10 to 20 years
down the line, we’re facing some catastrophic results here from this issue in
the ocean.”
Even so, Ward says he’s not
discouraged. His filtration systems are for sale and have been shipping all
over the world. He’s organized cleanups in Long Beach, the Bay Area, Oregon and
elsewhere, and regularly sees large volunteer turnouts.
“It’s really heartwarming to see
so many people wanting to be part of the solution,” Ward said. “There has to be
some response. We can’t just ignore it. We won’t ignore it.”
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