Visiting Plumb Beach on Halloween wasn’t entirely what I expected. First of all, I thought we would find more plastic than we did. Although we found a considerable amount of plastic, I thought it would be more of an issue. Secondly, I expected the act of searching to be less structured. Actively participating in the search pattern was much more efficient. I also, for some reason, expected the plastic we found to contain a recycling number and a label for identification, but most of the pieces were fragments or lacked labels. Overall though, the experience shed light on the amount and obscurity of plastic discarded and washed up on beaches.
We also got some great footage for our video!
My group consisted of Nicole, Julia, and I. Nicole recorded the data while Julia and I scanned the beach for plastic. We got a little extra help because Julia’s brother and mother joined the effort! The most surprising thing that we found was this huge piece of plastic that was eroded and sticking out of the sand. It looked like a piece from a refrigerator or oven. We had to break it up to fit it in our bag. At the end of the day you never realize how many obscure things you see at the beach. And while I go to the beach a lot, I never recognize the huge problem of plastic that is prevalent on many beaches. I guess that is why raising awareness to the issue of plastic is necessary and important!
By: Brett Branco on November 11, 2014 at 3:13 am
I’m curious why you, and many of the other students, expected to see so much more plastic than what we found. I think if you start extrapolating those numbers to larger areas of shoreline, the amount of plastic will quickly add up.