Tuesday, September 21, 2010

My Ocean Awareness Project...Where Does All This Plastic Come From?

When you live near the beach I think it's only natural that you take an interest in keeping it clean. I always deposit my trash , and will even pick up trash around me that was left by others.  But in the last few years I've begun to notice a larger amount of trash on the beach. Where does all this trash come from? There can't be that many litterbugs out there?

Last January after a intense week of rainstorms in Southern California I took a walk with my 12 year-old son down to Doheny Beach to check out the damage. We were amazed at how much trash ended up on the sand. Gigantic piles of wood....a big mess to deal with I'm sure but it's a natural element.

 We enjoyed the creative souls that had came before us and left their masterpieces.

 As we looked closer into the wood piles we saw bright and colorful things....plastic toys, sunglasses, balls.
I noticed some broken yellow sunglasses and picked them up. This is when I had the idea to use this trash to create a mosaic. We spent the rest of our time collecting brightly colored plastic to use as my tessarae. I think most people who live inland don't realize how far trash can travel and how much damage it can do to our oceans sea life.  I'm hoping that my finished project will open eyes to this problem.  I'll be updating my blog as I create my mosaic.

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