Trashy Beaches: A Solution to Beach and Park Pollution. Ellie McIntyre

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1 Trashy Beaches: A Solution to Beach and Park Pollution Ellie McIntyre

2 Ellie McIntyre 4/21/16 Final Project Executive Summary: Trashy Beaches The problem of beach pollution is a global issue that is detrimental to the future existence of marine life. Trashy Beaches is a non profit environmental and social activist organization that organizes beach cleanups in different areas in and around Staten Island, New York. It holds group art classes and activities that produce projects that put creative use to foreign objects and trash that is found and collected during the cleanup events to protect and improve the quality of our oceans and beaches. Pollution is defined as any destructive material that is introduced into the environment. The main cause of pollution in the parks and on the beaches beaches of Staten Island is from solid waste such as paper picnic plates and serviceware, plastic bags, bottles, and cigarette butts that are left behind by smokers Litter is a direct people problem Beach pollution is also caused by problems that are not directly in our control such as aging sewage treatment plants, stormwater runoff, polluted runoff from farms, roads, and cities, and accidental oil spills, we can not reverse our negative impacts but we can attempt to resolve them and see positive improvements to our coastlines

3 Final Paper Pollution is defined as any destructive or potentially destructive material that is introduced into the environment. The problem that my final project Trashy Beaches will be addressing is beach pollution, specifically in South Beach and Midland Beach and the surrounding shores of Staten Island, New York. These beaches makeup the shorelines that surround the Island and neighborhoods that are quite heavily dense with residents. There are around 480,000 people currently living on Staten Island. That is only one borough of New York City. The amount of waste that a household creates is crucial because of the way it is affecting the quality of our beaches and playgrounds. The main cause of the pollution in the parks and on the beaches beaches of Staten Island is from solid waste such as paper picnic plates and serviceware, plastic bags, bottles, and cigarette butts that are left behind by smokers. Beach pollution is also caused by aging sewage treatment plants, stormwater runoff, polluted runoff from farms, roads, and cities, and accidental oil spills. Dawn dishwashing detergent is a company that has featured the effects of oil spills on marine life in its commercials. It depicts images of baby animals covered in oil and then shows them being thoroughly washed by workers and veterinarians. This is just one example of a testimonial that brings to the light the effect we have on our planet and on other organisms. Beach pollution is shown to have been infrequent and specific to local areas. Problems develop in areas near pollution sources after a heavy rainfall or when a sewage treatment plant malfunctions. What comes to mind when combatting this issue is not just an image of sandy beaches filled with scattered trash. Litter itself is not the only issue. It is true that people are unable to fully experience the beauty and ease of a day spent at the beach due to trash but there are bigger problems at hand. The destruction of ecosystems and habitats is a major result of the garbage filled shorelines. Animals and organisms are essentially being removed from the earth by the oil spills and improper plastics, metal, solid, and chemical waste disposal. Microorganisms are also affected by our irresponsibility. Microorganisms like viruses, bacteria, and protozoans can be released into the ocean because of the untreated or partially treated sewage which are harmful to humans. Microorganisms are dangerous for people with weakened immune systems because it is easier for them to catch certain infections or illnesses if they are exposed to polluted water. Gastroenteritis or stomach flu is an example of an illness that is caused by swimming in water that is contaminated by sewage. Individuals who swim in polluted water are unknowingly risking their health and safety over a problem that can be prevented but is out of their control. Pollution can come in multiple forms that are not always physical. In large bodies of water, sound waves can continue to move on for miles and these distracting sounds from ships, sonar devices, oil rigs, and even from natural sources like earthquakes can disrupt migration patterns of different marine animals. This is known as noise pollution. Studies show that degradation of shorelines has accelerated in the past three centuries as industrial discharge and runoff from farms and coastal cities has increased. Degradation can also be defined as the destruction of the coastal habitats. The rapid

4 growth of urban centers along coastal regions and the fast development of the coastal tourism produce large quantities of pollution from untreated domestic sewage which poses a threat to the coastal habitats. Changes to the coastlines caused by human activity have increased and worsened the effects of climate change. The result of this is beginning to be catastrophic. There are many present organizations and community service programs that offer opportunities in which people can volunteer for community beach and park cleanups. The Alice Ferguson Foundation created something called the Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative. This initiative began in 2005 and is like many other groups around the country in that is continuously organizes and sponsors many different trash cleanups that contribute to cleaner marine life. The main goal is to improve watershed and to have a trash free Potomac watershed [which] will be achieved when we have the institutions, infrastructure, and policies that will lead to a 1 lasting reduction of litter. 2 No Butts On The Beach is a campaign that aims to control and reduce cigarette waste impacting the coastal environment. Surfers Against Sewage also calls for better controls of smoking related waste impacting the beach, coastal and marine environment. The butt bin is a garbage or storage bin that is designed to let smokers stub out their cigarettes and store them safely without causing a mess until they can get to a proper trash can. Surfer Against Sewage has already given thousands out free at events and also with merchandise orders. This campaign has been quite successful in creating areas for the removal of cigarettes from beaches in order to help save wildlife and the marine environment. Although it has prevented the accumulation of cigarette butts on beaches, people are still smoking and there is still waste being produced and left on beaches and the pollution is caused by many other methods. Just like The Alice Ferguson Foundation, Surfers Against Sewage and many other organizations, I have developed my campaign based on the issue of beach pollution. I plan to start a campaign that organizes beach cleanup events and activities that are partnered with art projects created from foreign objects and trash found on the beach. The beach cleanups with be based on volunteer work although the friendly atmosphere of an art class will attract people. This campaign will be called Trashy Art, because essentially we will be creating trashy art. The beaches are constantly being filled with waste objects and materials that could have been made useful in a past life. Through these activities I plan to give what was once considered useless a purpose. This is not a major solution to the problem of pollution but it is a quick fix. I am aiming to attract younger, creative audiences to the idea of recycling for the purpose of cleaning their environment for the future. These activities can also be an educational opportunity for people who are not usually exposed to the ideas of sustainability because they can be taught different skills and methods to sustaining the land and ecosystems involved with the areas that they will be exploring and cleaning. 1 Alice Ferguson Foundation 2 No Butts on the Beach by Surfers Against Sewage

5 Angela Haseltine Pozzi is an artist and art teacher from Oregon who initiated a similar project to combat beach and ocean pollution. Her project, named Washed Ashore, was a community centered project where people of Bandon, Oregon would create art pieces that represent different marine life and ocean themes. One piece is collection of sea creature sculptures that is now a traveling exhibit currently on display at the San Francisco Zoo. Her projects raise consciousness about the impacts of littering in the ocean. My solution makes the world more resilient because it brings awareness to the pollution situation and encourages active engagement and involvement in preventing this problem and preserving natural landscapes. Solid waste is the easiest pollution problem for people to prevent because it is directly caused by people. Although we may not have control in the way that our systems are managed or how they handle these issues of waste treatment we have control in the maintenance of trash within the areas most closest to us. It is as simple as picking up a tissue that was tossed away by someone else. It may seem like a miniscule task but when there are more people involved the problem can be diluted on a much larger scale. I plan to create a comprehensive manual that promotes an educational campaign and events that will inform my community on the issue of beach pollution. This will help recruit potential members and volunteers to complete these tasks. I would also like to create an example of an art piece created by me from objects that I collect from the beach.the target audience for my project is people of all ages in my community, Midland Beach on Staten Island, that are artistic and creative and who care about the area in which they live. This campaign may not be a sustainable solution if the response is very small due to the lack of interest by the people of my community and the communities in and around Staten Island. My Campaign is entitled Trashy Beaches and is a play on words to attract attention. I also created an example of what people, as volunteers, can produce and create from the objects that they collect from the different beach destinations. This idea is effective because the artistic people who are choosing to participate tend to have vivid imaginations that run wild. This means they have bigger eyes than their visual stomachs, they may pick up more objects than what they are realistically going to use. This makes people more motivated to assist in touching garbage and helping to keep the beaches free of waste materials. I scavenged and picked up many different items I thought would use and managed to fill two garbage bags with trash just from one beach. That was barely even covering 100 feet of the shore.

6 Appendix Existing solutions: People cleanup beaches usually because of volunteer opportunities in their communities or schools or if they are incarcerated. Some examples of art pieces that were created by organizations in response to pollution. They are pieces created from found objects and trash. References: "No Butts on the Beach." Surfers Against Sewage. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr "Vital Water Graphics." Coastal Populations and Shoreline Degradation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr "What Are Microorganisms?" Find out How They Work. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr "Alice Ferguson Foundation." Alice Ferguson Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr

7 "Marine Pollution Pristine Seas National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr seas/critical issues marinepollution/ Garces, Diego M. "Marine Problems: Pollution." Marine Problems: Pollution. WWF, n.d. Web. 20 Apr "Art to save the Sea." Washed Ashore Project. Web. 26 Apr

8 Campaign Manual Pages (actual project) Cover Page

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15 PR Flier

16 Example of an art piece that I created from collected trash.

17 Self Assessment Overall I was proud of what I was able to accomplish and convey through my project. My manual and art project brought attention to the issues I am facing. I do wished that I binded my manual differently because I glued the pages onto their backing. I believe that if I were to develop a large enough following this project could be a game changer. It would get the message across to New York City government officials about the ineffective sewage treatment and how it should be changed.