Islanders are no-doubt clocking some serious beach-time these days. It’s scorching out there, and living on Bowen gives us enviably easy beach-access.
Trips to our island’s shorelines at high-tide these days can be a little disheartening, though. Maybe not all beaches on Bowen suffer the same fate, but there are definitely a few that suffer from a daily dump of the trash that’s floating around out there in the ocean. Ziplock bags, tampon applicators, plastic cutlery… just a few of the items I’ve collected recently.
Considering that an estimated 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in the world’s oceans every year (according to plasticoceans.org) it should come as no surprise to any of us that Bowen Island beaches are less than pristine. Of course, many of us make a habit of picking up, and holding clean-up parties to improve the situation. On a personal level, many of us try to cut our plastic consumption by buying less junk wrapped in it,using alternatives like beeswax wrap and of course, recycling. The individuals making these efforts deserve their kudos, but it would be great to see some more collective efforts aimed at cutting the amount of waste going into landfill and the ocean.
A number of restaurants in Squamish have pledged to take plastic straws out of their establishments. (According to plasticoceans.org, 550 million straws are thrown out every day.) Removing these ubiquitous and almost universally un-necessary utensils might be something to consider for Bowen restaurants. It could be a good proposition to BC Ferries, as well. After all, “Preserving and protecting the environment is of utmost importance at BC Ferries.”
Kicking the straw habit here on Bowen, and on BC Ferries, is such a small thing. It won’t make our beaches garbage-free and it won’t miraculously clean-up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch but, isn’t it the least we could do?
