The shoreline of our beach is not a pristine expanse of white sand, but is filled with wrack. This natural material is a combination of sea grasses, sponges, shells, coral, driftwood and other organic materials that wash up. When the wind comes from the south, it tends to pile up. From the north, it clears out. During high tides, countless little seabirds search the wreck looking for food. But they also find some things they shouldn’t: plastic.
Along with all the wonderful beach combing finds we discover every morning, we also find bagfuls of garbage. So with each walk, we each take a plastic bag in hand to collect what doesn’t belong in this wonderful landscape.
Some finds, like severed buoys, wind up as decoration on the fence of our landlord. But most finds are not so artistic. Tiny mustard colored and white bottles are a common find. Bottle caps this year seem to be abundant. Ironically, one of our first finds this season was a garbage can. And it took me and the tides a week or so to free a 25 foot section of drainage pipe from the wrack so it could be tossed out.
With diligence, luck and wind in the right direction, we keep our walking space relatively clean. But a change in tides and winds keeps us on our toes and our plastic bags full.
This year, perhaps ominously, there has been an increase in footwear that washes up on the shore. Flip flops, sneakers, children’s shoes, etc. can be found nearly every day. My hope is that it represents merely a careless toss rather than something more tragic.
