Hawaii’s Plastic Beach

This blog was first posted on the Plastic Pollution Coalition website:  https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/pft/2019/3/21/hawaiis-plastic-beach

By Hannah Testa, age 16, founder of Hannah4Change
The first time I saw the beach, I was enchanted.  I was resting on a beach in Florida and ran my hands through the sand, saying “beach” for the first time.  I splashed in the waves with my dad and said hello to the tiny fish jumping out of the water.  It was right at that moment that I fell in love with the ocean and all of the life that it supports.  However, that beautiful beach I visited as a toddler might not exist by the time I'm a mother.  

Recently, I was visiting Hawaii at Kahuku Beach in Oahu and was shocked at how much plastic washed up along the shoreline there.

Joining my dear friend, Robbie Bond, age 11 and founder of Kids Speak for Parks, and also the hardworking organization called Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, we cleaned up about a half-mile stretch of beach in about 2 hours.  Us kids used handmade screens to filter out the sand and retain plastic particles while other volunteers picked up the larger pieces with their hands.  We collected about 500 pounds of plastic in a short period of time!

What is most sad is that this beach is cleaned often by volunteers, and yet we know the plastic is expected to return.  On one hand, cleaning up the beach seemed frustrating because we know unless we tackle the source of the problem and turn off the tap, plastic will wash ashore again.  But on the other hand, we can’t just leave the plastic there either!

What did we find?  The most common items we saw today were bottle caps, pieces of fishing nets, and toothbrushes.  There were also a lot of unrecognizable plastics.  One of the interesting things I picked up was the bottom of a plastic bottle that had dozens of little bite marks taken from it.  It was apparent that fish were eating from this plastic bottle!  I’m glad I am vegan and no longer eat fish!

In fact, we saw four large sea turtles resting on the beach.  One of them was resting on a big piece of plastic trash.  It illustrated for me that plastics are a common threat to animal species in our oceans.
What didn’t we see?  We didn’t see anything that wasn’t made of plastic because any biodegradeable products had already broken down. The problem with plastic is that it isn't biodegradable, meaning it can't be broken down into organic compounds. Instead, it breaks up into small, toxic microplastics that are eaten by fish.

Our dependence on plastic products needs to end if we want to protect our oceans and our beautiful beaches. We all need to see what we can do as citizens and consumers to reduce our plastic consumption, to recycle properly, and to voice our concerns loudly to politicians and business leaders about this growing environmental crisis.
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No matter where we live, the health of the ocean affects all of us. By taking the steps to curb our plastic consumption and “turn off the tap,” we can help ensure that future toddlers will have an ocean to fall in love with.
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Hannah Testa is a sustainability advocate, international speaker, and founder of Hannah4Change, an organization dedicated to fighting issues that impact the planet. Hannah4Change is a project of Plastic Pollution Coalition.