Bikini Toll

Support nonprofit, independent environmental journalism.
Donate to Grist.

ADVERTISING POLICY

[Advanced]

Tools: print | email | write to the editor | subscribe | RSS

Beaches strewn with a lot of trash, says report

Posted at 12:04 PM on 16 Apr 2008

Six million pounds of trash were picked up in a one-day global beach cleanup last September, according to a new report from the Ocean Conservancy. In one day, beachcombers covering 33,000 miles of shoreline in 76 countries found an average 182 pounds of trash per mile. That was comprised of 7.2 million items of garbage -- food wrappers, bottles, fishing lines, plastic bags, and more. A full one-third of the trash items were cigarette butts, filters, cigar tips, and other smoking-related paraphernalia. The conservancy also tallied the impact of using the great outdoors as a waste bin: Volunteers came across 235 animals that had become entangled in debris.

source: Associated Press

ADVERTISING POLICY

< Previous | Next >

Comments: (3 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

Oink ...

Oink

"We Have Found the Enemy and It Is Us" ... Pogo

by rrecroc at 11:19 AM on 17 Apr 2008

Why Smoking Banned On Some Beaches

Aside from not wanting to breathe their smoke, another bad thing about smoking is the litter it creates. This is not a significant problem on paved streets or sidewalks, but when this trash gets into natural areas it becomes one. I really don't care if people smoke so long as they don't cause problems for others, but smokers are going to have to be a lot more responsible or they're eventually going to have to go to the moon to light up as every place on Earth becomes off limits to smoking.

by Wolverine at 11:45 AM on 17 Apr 2008

Smokers...

...their trash buds are litter...but by smokin' that bud they take several minutes off their life...which accumulates to several years that they won't be consuming the rest of our resources.

by Tasermons Partner at 12:10 PM on 17 Apr 2008

The comments of Grist users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?