One of the main benefits of living in Capistrano Beach is, obviously, the proximity to the beach. Not just any beach, mind you, but gorgeous South Orange County prime beach. OC beaches are truly the stuff of movies and television, but I must admit I’m disappointed by the amount of trash that seems to be washing up. A longtime member of the Surfrider Foundation, I’ve picked up beach litter all my life, so it was perfectly natural recently to take a small trash bag with us and clean up a section of beach as we walked along the shoreline. To our surprise, and dismay, we filled it in less than five minutes. There were the typical small bits of clear plastic, drinking straws, far too many bits of styrofoam, a McDonalds coffee cup, a badly rusted spray paint can, and a dozen or so plastic bottle caps. I thought it odd that the only part of a plastic water bottle that can’t be recycled should be washing up on the beach in such quantities. After a bit of consideration, I decided to embark on a project, as time allows, of collecting and categorizing beach trash in a photo essay in an attempt to create awareness of the problem. Perhaps a way will come to light in the future to use this information to reduce litter on the OC beaches, and thus a summer project is born.
