Nearly a half-million pieces of trash litter Jersey shoreline
source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/04/nj_beachgoers_leave_nearly_a_h.html#incart_hbx
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A bag of heroin, a 10-gallon gas tank, five pairs of underwear, a duck caller and a plastic cow were among the nearly half-million pieces of trash picked up from New Jersey's beaches by volunteers last year. It may appear that everything but the kitchen sink turned up. But that's wrong: There was one of those, too.
Clean Ocean Action, the environmental group that has been doing beach sweeps for 25 years, says in a report to be released today that an all-time high of 475,321 pieces of litter were removed from the state's 127-mile shoreline last year. The 8,372 people who participated in spring and fall cleanups also set a record.
Plastics accounted for nearly three-quarters of the debris plucked from the beaches, with plastic caps or lids topping the list at 61,895. Miscellaneous bits and pieces of plastic were next at 51,249 items, followed by cigarette filters (an all-time high of 45,903), food wrappers or bags (43,113), straws or coffee stirrers (39,029), foam pieces (22,099), and bottles (18,212). Wood and lumber accounted for 10,384 items, followed closely by cigar tips (10,328) and shopping bags (8,619).
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
• Clean-up crews collect 25,000 pounds of trash from Wildwood Crest island
• N.J. beach-cleaning group reports latest finds
• Long Beach Island beaches remain open despite trash washing up on shore
The report may also give new impetus to efforts to ban or phase out the use of plastic bags at grocery stores. The number of plastic bags collected more than quadrupled from 2,793 in 1993 to 12,873 in 2009. Plastic caps and lids also soared from 6,947 in 1993 to 33,551 in 2009. There were 8,611 pieces of paper found last year, and 7,723 pieces of glass.
But it is the report's "Roster of the Ridiculous" that gets the most attention each year, a list of wacky or downright yucky items mixed in among the plastics. For 2010 they included the gas tank (which, with gasoline at nearly $4 a gallon appears nearly unfathomable to throw away nowadays), a thumbnail-sized bag of heroin (which is probably worth less than the gasoline), plastic fingernails, a Home Depot apron, a scooter, human-shaped candles, a ballet slipper, an unopened Census form (take THAT, Uncle Sam!), a beer keg, a can of corned beef and a bottle of syrup (to go with the corned beef, no doubt).
Clean Ocean Action, the environmental group that has been doing beach sweeps for 25 years, says in a report to be released today that an all-time high of 475,321 pieces of litter were removed from the state's 127-mile shoreline last year. The 8,372 people who participated in spring and fall cleanups also set a record.
Plastics accounted for nearly three-quarters of the debris plucked from the beaches, with plastic caps or lids topping the list at 61,895. Miscellaneous bits and pieces of plastic were next at 51,249 items, followed by cigarette filters (an all-time high of 45,903), food wrappers or bags (43,113), straws or coffee stirrers (39,029), foam pieces (22,099), and bottles (18,212). Wood and lumber accounted for 10,384 items, followed closely by cigar tips (10,328) and shopping bags (8,619).
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
• Clean-up crews collect 25,000 pounds of trash from Wildwood Crest island
• N.J. beach-cleaning group reports latest finds
• Long Beach Island beaches remain open despite trash washing up on shore
The report may also give new impetus to efforts to ban or phase out the use of plastic bags at grocery stores. The number of plastic bags collected more than quadrupled from 2,793 in 1993 to 12,873 in 2009. Plastic caps and lids also soared from 6,947 in 1993 to 33,551 in 2009. There were 8,611 pieces of paper found last year, and 7,723 pieces of glass.
But it is the report's "Roster of the Ridiculous" that gets the most attention each year, a list of wacky or downright yucky items mixed in among the plastics. For 2010 they included the gas tank (which, with gasoline at nearly $4 a gallon appears nearly unfathomable to throw away nowadays), a thumbnail-sized bag of heroin (which is probably worth less than the gasoline), plastic fingernails, a Home Depot apron, a scooter, human-shaped candles, a ballet slipper, an unopened Census form (take THAT, Uncle Sam!), a beer keg, a can of corned beef and a bottle of syrup (to go with the corned beef, no doubt).
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- Pollution, New Jersey, Trash
