Pollution   It’s really sad to find so much garbage on the shores of our beaches. This is a small sample of the trash we picked up along the high-tide line of Flax Pond. Most of this trash is plastic.

Mixed Trash

Mid Tide

Flax Pond   Flax Pond is a Tidal Wetland, a Salt Marsh. Besides being just one of my favorite places, it is home to millions of creatures.

Picking up the trash   Creative Earth volunteer Marta De`an, had no idea picking other peoples trash could be so much fun!

Marta De`an

Beach Side     This is something I do once or twice a year. I spend sometime picking up the trash around Flax Pond. This tidal line of (now) clean organic matter is mostly composed of Sea Grass, Sea Weed, tree parts and Dead Organisms that floated atop the sea and were left behind by the tide to be eaten by the many creatures that call this place home!

Me

Pond Side Javier picks up juice bags (a lot of Capri Sun finding its way to our shores),  juice boxes and a not so wonderful mix of people garbage. There are thousands of tons of organic matter that make up this tidal blanket inside the pond. It’s an important part of this special ecosystem. This layer of decaying organic matter provides food, shelter and a place for all the Flax Pond Critters to have a party.

Javier Kienzle

Earthlings From left to right. Brendan Nelson, Malissa McConnell, Brett McConnell, Mark McConnell, Javier Kienzle and Clara Kienzle. Photo by Marta

Teach Your Children Well

The Garbage Barge One of the biggest threats posed by this pollution is plastic film (e.g. grocery bags, zip lock bags) being eaten by sea turtles and other marine animals. They mistake the plastic for Jellyfish one of their favorite foods. Plastic isn’t organic and doesn’t breakdown in the digestive tract very well. Plastic Film Pollution is a major problem all over the world.  As we picked pieces of plastic out of the tidal blanket we were astonished by the number of pieces per sq. ft. Some places had more than others, but no place had none.  But, we changed all that. It won’t last for long I’m sure, but the lesson is a strong one and now there are a few more young people that understand how important it is to have a healthy planet!

Time To Go