Plastic in our Crystal, Pacific Waters

Dena Brennan

Think of the pictures of Lanikai. In your mind, do you see the lush, green  bushes that greet the sand, and the sand greets the clear crystal Lanikai waters? Or, do you see trash thrown up into the bushes when you walk on by?  

 What types of trash are dropped on Lanikai Beach and how do  people react?

I found that people take pictures of the sky and the water and not take pictures of the trash and debris on the sand. They just ignore the trash and walk on by. But I always look for it when I am at the beach. My mom collects glass from Lanikai. I found more than just glass when I did a beach clean-up, though. Here is one that I found! Can you see any trash?

The trash that I found:

• Cig. butts
• Tiny bits of plastic
• Bottle caps
• Full bottles
• Fishing lines
• Glass
• Food

Credit: Hawaii Hideaways Travel Blog

This is Lanikai Beach, that I was talking about in the beginning.

I realized that people just leave things behind when they think that there are others that will pick it up like servants. Just 3 people can pick up at least 2 bags of trash and leave a lot of the beach dirty.

How does plastic break down?

The ocean borne plastic, I found, is the undestructable. And the plastic is toxic with chemicals that will bleach the corals and hurts animals. That toxic chemical is called bisphenol A.

About the Great Garbage Patch:

There are about a thousand miles of trash in the water right off the coast of California. Did you know that there are 80% of that trash in the patch, floating in the ocean, is plastic? There are 3.5 million tons of trash floating in the so called “patch”. The reason why it’s not going away is because we are still creating trash. We don’t know that it was trash but it is, we are creating 4.6 pounds per person per day.

Why does plastic go into the ocean and how much?

There is wind in this world, and there is also plastic, so the wind is picking it up  and taking it to the ocean. The people that walk up and down the beach or even just live on the shoreline get the most comments on the trash, though. The trash is dropped, or left there with, or without thought on the droppers mind.

Did you know that there are 12 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year? That is crazy, right? Did you also know that the world is creating 1 rubbish truck full of trash every minute. ⅕ of marine litter is make of fishing line and gear, by accident. Also, 80% of trash in the seas are from the land.

Is there a reason why plastic does not break down?

Plastic is manufactured from petroleum and it takes a few million years for it to break down into tiny pieces. The manufacturing step turns petroleum into a unrecognized by the organic matter. So that means that the step of manufacturing is taking something that is recognized and changing it to something that is man-made.

Where is the largest amount of trash on the beach?

At makapuu, there is litter that is really damaging to this beautiful beach! There was a beach clean-up there and just 5 days later, there was trash all over, again! The people there are trying to clean it up as the trash comes in. They are having a really hard time there.

Were these beaches always like this?

There were always trash left on the beach, but some were not taken in consideration. In my vision, I have seen the beaches and taken note that there is trash on most, if not all, of the beaches on the windward side of Oahu, on the island chain of Hawaii.

Credit: Fine Art America,

This is another one of Lanikai, with a sea turtle happily swimming in the clear water.

 Here are some quotes of people in Kailua that care about clean oceans:

“I think that they are important to the environment, otherwise, the animals and the plants that live there, will die” This quote was said by Abigail Ward, in 7th Grade at LJA.

“I think that having clean oceans is important to our environment because then everything that lives there and works there would die in the near future” This quote was from Nate Odom, in the 7th grade at LJA.

“Yes because I live in Waikiki. The water there is always trash and dirty water and in the beach. When she looks at Kailua Beach, it is cleaner there, in contrast compared to Waikiki Beach.” That was a quote from a 7th grader, Hannah Gaines, at LJA.

“Yes! I care about clean oceans! They are important because some people eat fish and fish  comes from that dirty water that we see. If ate a fish that ate the toxic chemicals that went through that fish and into us. We are getting chemicals that come from plastic in us.” That is a quote from an English teacher, Joe Krueger.

I had an interview with a NOAA scientist, Kevin O’brien:

When we were talking about how plastic breaks down he said, “Plastic does not break down on its own, it has to use rocks and the waves because the molecules are tight-knit.”

When we were talking about the Island of Trash, I found that there are multiple islands, or floats of trash in the Pacific. He was talking about the areas where they push the most trash to, and the inhabited islands got the most trash.

When we were discussing the plastic in the ocean question, he said “the beaches, boats, wind, any trash from anywhere goes to the ocean. Everyone on earth pollutes”.

The plastic stays in the ecosystem is what we both agreed on.

Laysan island, 750ml. from Oahu, has debrised beaches.

Works Cited:

Brennan, Dena. “observations on Lanikai Beach”

Casson, Louisa. “How Does Plastic End up in the Ocean?” Greenpeace International, www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/story/how-does-plastic-end-up-in-the-ocean/.

Gutierrez, Ben. “Marine Debris Litters Beautiful Windward Oahu Beach.” Home - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL, 28 July 2007, www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/6852791/marine-debris-litters-beautiful-windward-oahu-beach/.

Herreria, Carla. “The Islands Of Hawaii Hold One Of The Dirtiest Places In The World.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 May 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kamilo-beach-hawaii-dirtiest-beach-america_us_58e99a38e4b05413bfe3792d.

Layton, Julia. “Could We Clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 28 June 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/clean-up-garbage-patch.htm.

Wolchover, Natalie. “Why Doesn't Plastic Biodegrade?” LiveScience, Purch, 2 Mar. 2011, www.livescience.com/33085-petroleum-derived-plastic-non-biodegradable.html.

Works Cited (Photos)

“Lanikai Beach Park.” Hawaii Hideaways Travel Blog, 26 May 2010, hawaiihideaways.com/hawaiitravelblog/2010/05/lanikai-beach-park/.

Turkus, Pristine Cartera, et al. “Lanikai Beach Sea Turtle Poster by Aloha Art.” Fine Art America, 12 Feb. 2019, fineartamerica.com/featured/lanikai-beach-sea-turtle-eric-evans.html?product=poster.