Beach Trash Sort (5-Feb-2017)

Since January 29th I had a car full of beach trash collected at Sandy Hook, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. I needed to get it sorted out and disposed of. With it being winter the conditions outside weren't optimal for my normal trash sorts and I had to find an indoor location to get this done. A good friend Joe Greco was kind enough to let me use his garage and Tyler Sacks came over to help me go through everything. All of the trash in this post is what Leigh Ann Stratakos and I collected and I wanted to show the wide array of items that end up on our beaches. Please if you go to the beach for your vacation this year, make sure to take out everything you bring with you and if you can take out some other trash while you are there. 

All of these items were collected on just a small stretch of beach. It is just unbelievable how much trash end up in our oceans and on our beaches.

A good number of the items were recyclable. All recyclables were put aside and will be properly disposed of, eventually becoming new products. 

All of the bags, balloons and other thin plastics. With some of these items, even if they are properly disposed of they can find there way back into the environment. Especially thin plastics like these. Bags especially can blow right out of landfills and if you have ever drive around a landfill you will probably see them hanging in trees or in farm fields. I have seen this many times. Using reusable bags when shopping can cut down on this kind of waste. Please help and try to use reusable items. 

With all of this trash we had to do some trash art. While going through the items we put all caps, tampon applicators, disposable utensils, teeth cleaners and cigar ends to the side. This is what we ended up coming up with. 

Not all items made the cut. These are the additional lids and caps. 

Tyler came up with this one for the straws. Please have a heart and go strawless for your next drink. Plastic single use items are a problem and can be detrimental to wildlife. Please do more to reduce your own waste so we can live in a better world. 

I want to thank everyone who helped out. Leigh Ann Stratakos for helping me pick up the trash, Joe Greco for letting me use his garage for the sort and Tyler Sacks who helped me get everything sorted and set up for the photos. Special thanks to Joe too for disposing of the non-recyclable items.  

See my most updated posts on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA