Thousands of people enjoy Washington's coast every year, from the long flat beaches of the state's southern coast to the remote and rugged shores of the northern coast. Many people notice debris washed up on shore, though most are unaware of its source. Unlike more populous coastlines in Oregon and California, most of the debris on our beaches is not left there by careless visitors. Surprisingly, it washes up from the ocean itself, where it may have been floating for days or years after being thrown in, dumped, or abandoned somewhere far away from our own coast. Still, some of the debris originates closer to home. And just because the rest of it might come from somewhere else, doesn't mean we can just ignore the problem or give up in frustration. There are simple things we can all do to help: we can start by understanding where marine debris comes from and the damage it does, then get involved in removing debris from our coast, and ultimately make better choices in our own lives.

How Does Trash Become Marine Debris?
Many are unaware of how their daily activities, from driving a car, to not properly disposing of their garbage, or even throwing a cigarette butt on the ground, can impact the plants and animals both on and off our shores. This debris can harm or kill beach and marine organisms. Pollution also makes using the beach less enjoyable for humans and can result in illnesses in swimmers, surfers and other ocean enthusiasts.

Solving our water pollution problems requires everyone's involvement. Look around the next time you walk down the street. When it rains, trash on sidewalks and streets accumulates in the gutter and is swept into your city's storm drain system. Most storm drain systems discharge directly into the nearest waterway, which eventually flows to the ocean. Trash may also be dumped directly into the ocean by recreational and commercial boaters, and it is often left on the beach by beach-goers. From all of these sources, trash finds its way out to sea, where marine currents carry it all over the world, often collecting it in giant eddys like the North Pacific Gyre. Here in Washington, a significant portion of this "itinerant" worldly debris washes up on our shores every winter, after winter storms sweep across the North Pacific Gyre and blow it our way.

How Much is Debris Out There?
More than you can ever imagine. Last year on our own coast, volunteers collected more than 23 tons of it. Down in California, Orange County recently collected enough garbage from six miles of beach to fill ten garbage trucks full of trash every week, at a cost to taxpayers of $350,000. And that pales in comparison to what's still floating out there. In 1975, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that ocean-based sources, such as cargo ships and cruise liners, dumped 14 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean. And of all forms of debris, plastic may be the worst: a recent study found an average of 334,271 pieces of plastic per square mile in the North Pacific Gyre (Moore 2001), spreading across an area many estimate to be larger than Texas! Learn more at http://www.algalita.org or, for fun, Google the words "marine debris North Pacific Gyre."

Results of more than 10 years of volunteer beach cleanup data indicate that 60 to 80 percent of beach debris comes from land-based sources. And debris in the marine environment means hazards for animals and humans. Plastic marine debris affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86 percent of all sea turtle species, 44 percent of all sea bird species, and 43 percent of marine mammal species (Laist 1997).

How Does Marine Debris Harm Wildlife?
Perhaps the most common hazard of marine debris is entanglement. Common items like fishing line, strapping bands and six-pack rings can hamper the mobility of marine animals. Once entangled, animals have trouble eating, breathing or swimming, all of which can have fatal results. Plastics take hundreds of years to break down and may continue to trap and kill animals year after year.

Another serious hazard is ingestion of plastic. Almost 90 percent of floating marine debris is plastic. Due to its durability, buoyancy, and ability to absorb and concentrate toxins present in the ocean, plastic is especially harmful to marine life. Birds, fish and mammals often mistake plastic for food. Some birds even feed it to their young. With plastic filling their stomachs, animals have a false feeling of being full, and may die of starvation. Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, one of their favorite foods. Even gray whales have been found dead with plastic bags and sheeting in their stomachs.

How Does Marine Debris Harm People?
Beachgoers can cut themselves on glass and metal left on the beach. Marine debris also endangers the safety and livelihood of fishermen and recreational boaters. Nets and monofilament fishing line can obstruct propellers and plastic sheeting and bags can block cooling intakes. Such damage is hazardous and costly in terms of repair and lost fishing time. And needless to day, marine debris is ugly. Beach-goers in search of the pleasures of sand and surf are disappointed to find traces of what they hoped to escape: the rigors of everyday life. And here in Washington, hikers to the remote, wilderness beaches of our northern coast are especially disheartened to find these ugly signs of civilization right where they had hoped to leave them behind.

What Can I Do?
Reducing, reuse, and recycle. As ordinary as it might seem, using less stuff is one of the most important things we can all do to combat marine debris and pollution in general. For every item we recycle or reuse, that's one less piece of trash that can become a part of the marine debris cycle threatening people and wildlife. And it is important to keep in mind that the debris we collect from our beaches is really a symptom of a much larger water pollution problem that is caused by everyday people doing every day things. Rain scours oil from parking lots, fertilizer from lawns, pet droppings from sidewalks and other toxic contaminants and transports them down storm drains and over land into the ocean. These toxins are poisoning marine life and destroying delicate ecosystem right here in Washington. We can all be part of the solution by recycling, switching to non-toxic products, and improving other everyday practices to help keep our waterways clear and clean. Here are the basics we can all do:

• Don't litter on the beach or anywhere.
• Cut the rings of plastic six-pack holders. This lowers the risk of entanglement to marine animals if the holders do make it out to sea.
• Buy products made from recycled materials with little or no packaging.
• Keep storm drains clean - they drain to beaches.
• Keep cigarette butts off streets and beaches.
• Properly dispose of fishing lines, nets, and hooks.
• Educate others about marine debris.
• Volunteer for a cleanup event.

Be sure to check out these helpful resources, too.

Moore, C. J., S. L. Moore, M. K. Leecaster, and S. B. Weisberg, 2001. A comparison of plastic and plankton in the North Pacific Central Gyre. In: Marine Pollution Bulletin 42, 1297-1300.

Laist, D. W., 1997. Impacts of marine debris: entanglement of marine life in marine debris including a comprehensive list of species with entanglement and ingestion records. In: Coe, J. M. and D. B. Rogers (Eds.), Marine Debris -- Sources, Impacts and Solutions. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 99-139

This discussion was adapted from information appearing on the web site of the California Coastal Commission: www.coastal.ca.gov.