by Colleen Bednarz Unified under the common goal of reducing marine debris and protecting marine life, a new public-private partnership is bringing a unique beach clean-up and plastics recycling program to Santa Cruz and Monterey beaches.
With over 14 billion pounds of garbage making its way into our oceans every year, 50-89 percent of that being some form of plastic, increased efforts to collect recyclables on area beaches is essential, local environmentalists warn.
The focus of the campaign is on plastic marine debris, and in order to reduce the amount of waste and plastics entering our oceans that cause havoc to our marine ecosystems, waste needs to be more effectively intercepted on land and properly disposed of.
The recycling efforts already in place on area beaches will be given a much-needed hand when the full-blown recycling campaign hits our coastline, spreading the simple message: “Plastics. Too Valuable to Waste. Recycle.”
The partnership and public education campaign between California State Parks, California Integrated Waste Management Board, the American Chemistry Council, and
Keep California Beautiful is working to bring big plastic bins and larger solar-powered trash and recycling compactors to coastlines throughout California.
The partners say that public-private partnerships often have greater success when pooling resources together, and in this case, uniting under one common goal with a clear message.
State Parks Team with Others to Protect Beaches
Despite legislation that makes it illegal to dump plastics in all U.S. navigable waters, each year millions of seabirds and more than 100,000 marine mammals die due to ingestion of, or entanglement in, marine debris. Specifically, plastic marine debris affects at least 267 different marine species worldwide, including 86 percent of all sea turtles, 44 percent of all sea bird species, and 43 percent of marine mammal species.
Around 30,000 northern fur seals a year drown or suffocate by being caught in abandoned fishing nets. Whales can mistake plastic bags for squids, and birds often mistake plastic pellets for fish eggs when they feed.
Plastic marine debris can constrict an animal’s movement, and when ingested can clog digestive tracks leading to death due to starvation, exhaustion, or infection.
Toxins found in plastics can poison animals, as well as cause reproductive failure in fish, shellfish, and other wildlife.
Plastic sheeting has been found in the stomachs of sperm whales, Curvier beaked whales and round-toothed dolphins, and sea turtles all too often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, one of their favorite foods.
When 70 percent of all marine debris reaches and settles on the ocean floor, immobile plants and animals are often suffocated and killed, and coral reefs become smothered or wrapped in plastic.
In an area known to some as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” a Texas—sized swirling mass of floating garbage in the middle of the ocean, it is estimated that plastics outnumber plankton six-to-one.
Tourists Leave Plastic Behind
As a nation, we tossed out over 38 billion water bottles last year, all of which ended up in US landfills or waterways. As a community, “834 total tons of recyclables were collected from Santa Cruz District State Parks in 2007, 232 tons being glass and 41.4 tons in the form of plastics,” says Jack Kershner, Recycling Coordinator for Santa Cruz District State Parks.
The top five marine debris items found on Manresa State Beach throughout the past 10 years were plastic bags, straws, balloons, metal beverage cans, and plastic bottles, respectively.
The Santa Cruz County coastline is home to 10 state beaches and dozens more city and county beaches, which on summer days can host over 200,000 visitors as a whole. Despite the recycling programs already in place, the volume of trash generated is overwhelming recycling efforts and park staff to the point that recycling is no longer attempted at many area beaches.
That’s where Big Bins come in.
The plastic that does make its way into recycling bins is given a second life.
Once collected, separated, compacted into bales, and sold to reclaimers by the truckload, plastic is then cut into flakes, washed, rinsed, and dried, melted into strands and cut into pellets â€" the form of recycled plastic that is sold to manufacturers of recycled goods from clothing, to yo-yos and Frisbees, even bridges.
â€" 14 20-oz green soda bottles equals 1 x-large t-shirt.
â€" 85 20-oz soda bottles equals filling for 1 sleeping bag.
â€" 96 1 gallon milk jugs equals one six-foot piece of 2x4 lumber.
â€" 1,200 plastic bottles equals one 200-pound railroad tie.
Efforts to Expand Program
The partnership’s recycling campaign is currently in its first phase. Already planned, Big Bins will be placed at both Rio Del Mar state beach and Seabright state beach as part of a trial effort.
The most recent expansion will bring the total of new recycle bins donated statement-wide to more than 500 bins along California’s coast. The success of the Big Bins on these heavily populated beaches will be assessed, taking others factors into account such as vandalism, theft, and visitation rates.
As Santa Cruz waits for a grant allotment to be approved before expanding the program to all 10 state beaches in our district, Santa Cruz County’s “Can it!” campaign will spread the message to tourists and locals through television and radio spots, ads in local theatres, educational panels, and beach signage written in both English and Spanish.
By implementing successful collection centers at 10 or more of the most heavily impacted beaches in the county, the campaign aims to collect about 100 tons, or 500,000 recycled CRV containers, in the first year of the program.
