The Trash Project Rolls On

90 Pieces of Plastic, 50 Yards of Beach

January 20, 2010 – San Clemente, California

Last week a pretty major storm rolled through California. In Orange County it rained for a week straight. I headed down to the ocean after work one night to try and capture a last minute time lapse of the front moving in overhead. The sun had been down for about an hour, so I set up the camera and began walking down the beach. For all intensive purposes it was dark. Yet, as I walked, I kept seeing semi-glowing objects on the sand in front of me. I bent down to get a closer look and realized that what I was seeing was plastic shining in the moonlight. At this point I was only about five paces from my tripod, which was positioned right next to the north side of the San Clemente Pier. (As the trash flies, it’s about one hundred yards from the north side of the pier to the lifeguard station.) I kept walking and started to gather every glowing, and non-glowing piece of plastic I could see. Even the stuff that wasn’t at full glow, was still relatively easy to spot. Within the first twenty steps I had two heaping handful’s of plastic bottle caps, most of which had previously adorned a plastic water bottle at some point in time. I kept going, thirty steps now away from the tripod, and only walking for about five minutes. I had to find somewhere to stash what I had already found. Conveniently, there was a plastic bag half buried in the sand that I used to place the caps in. A bit further, I began finding water bottles, lots of them. I put them aside, and kept collecting. Plastic kids toys, more plastic bottles, plastic bread bags, plastic candy wrappers, and more plastic water bottles, and many more orphaned plastic caps. I kept hording my find into a larger plastic bag so that I could get my bounty back to my house to sort through it. I couldn’t help but think about the photo essay I saw earlier that week, by Chris Jordan, about the dead Albatross on Midway Island. Death by plastic. The bird’s decaying body cavities overflowing with plastic, mostly plastic bottle caps. Midway Island, in the middle of the Pacific ocean, two thousand miles away from any continent – the birds and the island both riddled with plastic. I kept thinking about how absurd it was to have let this such a thing happen, there, here, anywhere. My short stroll down the beach yielded me more plastic than I was prepared to carry…I was only on the beach for thirty minutes.

Back at my apartment, I began rinsing off the plastic pieces,  separating them out. I wanted to see exactly what I had found. I had found the gamut. Mostly, plastic water bottles and caps. Lots of fragments of items I couldn’t identify, but nonetheless they all counted for something.

38 plastic bottle caps, 1 plastic tube of Chapstick, 1 plastic straw, 1 plastic ball point pen, 2 plastic kids toys, 9 plastic water bottles, 5 plastic fast-food cups (32oz), 1 paper coffee cup, 5 pieces of Styrofoam,  10 plastic bread wrappers, 5 misc plastic pieces, 12 plastic sheets.

In less than thirty minutes, and under the light of darkness, I found enough plastic to fill one side of my kitchen sink. 90 Pieces total. How shameful I thought. Our beautiful beaches, oceans, and wildlife, infected with plastic, and poisoned by laziness and mass consumption.

A scientist was recently asked how the plastic epidemic could be stopped. How could it be cleaned up. His answer…it’s like an over flowing bathtub. You can bail it out forever. But as long as the tap is still on, you’ll never be able to completely bail it out. He also mentioned that the beaches of our generation were made of sand, but that the beaches of future generations will be made of plastic.

For the love of all that is ours, can we just stop making so much God-damned plastic?

Either way, the Trash Project continues…

January 17, 2010 – Today’s Trash Project sponsored in part by Chevron, maker of the “Super Cool” 32 oz. plastic cup. And a special thanks to the asshole who threw it on the street.

January 09, 2010 – The Trash Project continues…

• For the last six months I’ve been happily settling into San Clemente, CA. It’s truly a magical town. There is one thing that baffles me about this little jewel by the sea though…the trash laden streets! I live about 4.5 blocks from the beach, so naturally I walk down to the shore quite often. On one hand I am infinitely stoked to be heading down to the beach each and every time I go, but on the other hand  a certain sense of despair overcomes me. The trash. It’s everywhere but where it’s supposed to be. On the curb, near the storm drains, which all drain into our oceans, next to cars, in the grass. I’ve become fanatic about picking it up, at least the stuff that I can see as I’m walking to and from the ocean. It’s become a game I play. What will I find? And, how much stuff will there be? Will anyone see me picking up the trash? Will they ask me what I’m doing? So far, nobody has batted an eye my way…and not a single question. In fact, quite the opposite. I get strange looks as if I’m mentally deranged because I’m picking up trash. And yet, I feel empowered to act, even if it’s a small part of the overall problem. I’ve grown tired of the reports telling me that there is an amazingly large, swirling, sea of trash just beyond our shore, and I want to do my part to help keep even more from entering into it.

• I’ve found everything from an empty gallon of paint, to 32oz. plastic cups from Taco Bell. Extremely disturbing, and yet almost comical in its severity. I have to admit openly, that I passed by these specific items, and others, more than once, assuming some else would take responsibility and clean up after themselves. Not so.

• I decided that I would make a plastic bag part of the tools necessary for a walk down to the beach. Whether I’m surfing, or merely heading down to snap some photos, I’m making it a point to arm myself with a trash carrying device of some sort. My hope is that this little project will inspire someone else to do the same thing, in their own town, and on their own special street! Imagine what we’ll find! And even better, imagine how beautiful our towns will be! Maybe even more importantly,  our oceans and beaches, they’ll be cleaner too.

• So, I’ll be posting my findings and sharing my stories from the Trash Project! I’d love to see pictures from your own Trash Project!

October 19, 2009

October 22, 2009

• House shoe, LARGE Maxy-thin – awesome to pick up by the way, two plastic battle caps, half of a plastic snuff can, cellophane, a plastic package of soy sauce, a plastic smoothie cup – with lid and straw, a plastic golf ball, and an empty pack of cigarettes. It was a good day for the San Clemente Trash Project!

November 6, 2009

• I’m still baffled at how people can allow these things to hit our streets. It’s senseless, irresponsible, and appalling.

November 7, 2009

• Perhaps my favorite find thus far. An empty quart of transmission fluid, found positioned next to a storm drain, a T-Mobile coupon, and a single page from the epic novel “Lonesome Dove”.

November 12, 2009

• Tonight’s Trash Project photo sponsored by, The Cheesecake Factory.